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THE JESUIT RELATIONS
AND
ALLIED DOCUMENTS
VOL. LVIII
The edition consists of sev- en hundred and fifty sets all numbered
No.
The Jesuit Relations and x\llied Documents
Travels and Explorations
OF THE Jesuit Missionaries
IN New France
1610-1791
THE ORIGINAL FRENCH, LATIN, AND ITAL- IAN TEXTS, WITH ENGLISH TRANSLA- TIONS AND NOTES ; ILLUSTRATED BY PORTRAITS, MAPS, AND FACSIMILES
EDITED BY
REUBEN GOLD THWAITES Secretary of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin
Vol. LVIII
Ottawas, lower Canada, Iroquois
1672- 1674
CLEVELAND: ttbe 3SuttOW0 JStOtbetg
Companis, publishers, mdcccxcix
Copyright, 1899
BY
The Burrows Brothers Co
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
The Imperial Press, Cleveland
EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor
Translators
Assistant Editor Bibliograpliical Adviser
Reuben Gold Thwaites FiNLOw Alexander Percy Favor Bicknell Crawford Lindsay William Price Emma Helen Blair Victor Hugo Paltsits
CONTENTS OF VOL. LVIII
Preface to Volume LVIII . . .9
Documents: —
CXXX. Relation dece qui s'est passe .... en la Nouuelle France, Les ann^es 1672.611673. Jeande Lamberville, Claude Dablon, and others. [Final installment.] . . • ^9
CXXXI. Relation de la descouverte de plu- sieurs pays situez au midi de la Nouvelle France, faite en 1673. \Claude Dablon; Quebec, August i, 1674] ....
CXXXII. Voyage autour de I'lsle Jesus. Antoine Dabnas; [La Prairie, Oc- tober, 1674]
CXXXIII. Relation de ce qui s'est pass6 .... en la Nouvelle- France pendant les annees 1673 et 1674. [Letters from the following missionaries, edited or synopsized by Claude Dablon:] Claude Jean Allouez, Louis Andr^, Pierre Millet, Jean de Lamberville, Julien Gamier, Pierre Raffeix, Francois de Cr^pieul, and Louis Nicolas; n.p., n.d. [First installment.] . . .127
Bibliographical Data: Volume LVIII . 291
Notes . . . . • .293
92
no
PREFACE TO VOL. LVIll
Following is a synopsis of the documents con- tained in this volume :
CXXX. The greater part of the Relation of 1672-73 appeared in Vol. LVII. ; the remainder of the document is herewith presented.
Allouez's work among the Wisconsin tribes is described in his report to his superior. In May, 1672, he goes to the Mascouten village on the upper Fox River. Here he finds nearly two hundred cabins of savages, representing five tribes. A cabin is erected, for his chapel ; but, when he undertakes to say mass, so great a crowd assembles, and so great is their curiosity " to see the black gown," that for some time he cannot even make himself heard by them. He succeeds at last in explaining the cere- mony to them, when they show profound respect, and even refrain from smoking and talking while Allouez is using the chapel. Crowds attend his instructions every day, and he says, " I had barely time to take my food." He erects a great cross; and his parishioners hang upon it "clusters of Indian corn, girdles, and red garters," to show their venera- tion. Two of the tribes begin to quarrel over it, each desiring to have it when the Father shall depart; " this holy contention gave me joy." He settles it by erecting another cross in the rival
10 PREFACE TO VOL. LVIII
encampment, Allouez remains among these people until September 6, when he sets out on his return to De Pere. His canoe is wrecked in the Appleton rapids ; all his baggage is soaked with water, but fortunately is not lost. With one of his boatmen, who is ill, he remains eight days on " an Islet ten feet Long," until his men can procure another canoe. They then return safely to the mission-house at De Pere.
In the mission of St. Fran9ois Xavier, which includes the Pottawattomie village on the east shore of Green Bay, Allouez baptizes thirty-four persons during the year — all children, except one sick man. After September, he dwells in his house alone — the savages all departing, " because this year there are neither acorns nor Ducks." Many parties of Indians pass that way, however, going to or returning from their hunting; these he instructs as he has oppor- tunity.
At St. Mark's, among the Foxes, he has baptized forty-eight. In November, he goes there to visit some sick converts, of whose religious experiences he gives some account. In February, 1673, he again visits them, but finds that they have been prejudiced against the faith by the Iroquois. Moreover, not- withstanding their prayers to God, they have lost many warriors at the hands of the Sioux. He says mass every day, and preaches boldly against their superstitions and their licentious customs; yet no one interferes with him. " This is a special grace for this village, where the people are self-willed beyond anything that can be imagined." Allouez relates the course of events during his stay there. They listen to him readily, but are easily diverted
PREFACE TO VOL. LVIII 11
from belief in the new faith, especially when it does not protect them from their enemies.
The Father departs, April 30, for the Mascouten village, where he is welcomed by a friendly but noisy crowd, so anxious to get inside his chapel that, as before, they tear off the rush mats of which it is made. Of the Miami Indians, who also dwell here, some profess the faith ; but others do not approve of the Father's preaching. He observes, however, that all those who believe have not suffered from hunger during the winter, while the pagans have experienced such famine that some of them died. The Miamis have given up invocations to their manitous, and invoke " him who has made Heaven and earth."
Marquette has departed on his voyage toward the South Sea, and Albanel has again set out for Hudson Bay.
At La Prairie, near Montreal, have gathered many Iroquois Christians, with other converts from the captives who have been brought home by Iroquois war-parties. In this one mission are representatives of twenty-two tribes, and of several different lan- guages. The inhabitants of this colony will not suffer vice and superstition in their village ; they will not even admit therein any one who does not promise to live as they do. A full account is given of the hospitality, devotion, zeal, and other virtues displayed by these savages. " Brandy has ruined the Algonquin mission" — a calamity due to "the insatiable avarice of the French," who cheat the savages out of their furs by making them intoxicated. The little mission at La Prairie, however, is free from this curse, through " a miracle of Providence," and the care of the guardian angels. Several infidels
12 PREFACE TO VOL. LVJII
attempt to observe their superstitions, but they are promptly frowned down, and, if contumacious, are expelled from the village. One of them is punished by Divine justice, for within three months he loses all his children by death. The most important agency for retaining these savages in both devotion and morals is the "confraternity of the Holy Family ' ' established among them.
CXXXI. Dablon writes a letter (August i, 1674) to his superior in France, giving an account of the recent discovery of the Mississippi by Joliet and Marquette, obtained from reports made by the former. He describes the extent and course of the great river, and mentions the tribes dwelling upon its shores. The savages of that region appear gentle and friendly. At the first village that they enter, a magnificent calumet — the pipe of peace — is pre- sented to the Frenchmen. The beauty and fertility of that country, the abundance of game, and the mild- ness of the climate, delight the travelers. They proceed until, as the Indians inform them, they are but fifty leagues distant from the sea. At this point, fearing that they may be detained as prisoners by the Spaniards, they conclude to go back to Quebec, to inform the governor, as soon as possible, of their discoveries. They return to Mackinac (this time, by the Illinois river route), and Joliet proceeds to Quebec ; but he has the misfortune to wreck his canoe above Montreal, losing all his papers, and barely escaping with his life.
Dablon 's first comment on this important voyage is, that it opens the way for missions to new tribes, among whom there is a bright prospect for success. He also observes that it is now tolerably certain that
PREFACE TO VOL. LVIII 13
the Mississippi discharges into the Florida sea. This disappoints the hope of explorers that the river would offer a passage to the China sea ; but they think that, by ascending the Missouri, some other river which flows westward may be reached. The writer — or, more probably, Joliet — suggests that a ship-canal might be built across the Chicago portage, to con- nect the Illinois River with Lake Michigan, thus affording a short and inland route from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. Joliet recommends the Illinois prairies as suitable for French colonies.
CXXXII. This is a report to the superior, Dablon, of an expedition of observation around Isle Jesus, near Montreal, made by Father Antoine Dalmas, in September, 1674. He has been sent to inspect the island, to ascertain if there is any place suitable for the establishment of an Indian colony. He finds little to encourage this scheme, for such good loca- tions as remain are subject to various disadvantages, the worst of which is the danger that traders will go thither, to sell brandy to the Indians. A hasty survey leads him to suggest that a better place might be found above the mouth of the Ottawa; " all the nearer country is either taken, or is poor, and a prey to the traders." After this general report, Dalmas gives a journal of his voyage, which covers six days.
CXXXIII. The Relation oi 1673-74 was sent, as usual, to the French provincial by Dablon ; we present in this volume all of the document except the report on the Montagnais mission, which will appear in Vol. LIX.
The Huron colony near Quebec is rapidly increas- ing in population. As these savages need more land and wood, the Jesuits have removed them to a new
14 PREFACE TO VOL. LVIH
settlement, called Lorette. A general survey of this Huron mission is first given. The Hurons, poor as they are, have welcomed the Iroquois converts who flock to their village, and show the utmost Christian charity to these, their former enemies and tormentors. The good Hurons also bestow a large amount of corn as alms to the poor among the French people, besides sharing their possessions most generously among their own tribesmen who may be in need. They also show such fervor and devotion in their prayers that they put the French to shame. Shortly before his death, one man offers his only daughter to the Lord ; and, although she is but five years old, arrangements are made to place her with the Ursu- lines, that she may be trained for a nun's vocation.
The Hurons remove to Lorette on December 27, 1673; their chapel is completed and blessed on November 4, 1674. A description is given of this edifice, which is modeled after the house of the Virgin at Loreto, Italy. It is a notable stimulus to the fervor of the savages ; and many Frenchmen also come as pilgrims to this shrine. The Indian boys are delighted to serve at mass therein. Many incidents are related of the faith, resignation, and love, exhibited by these Huron Christians.
The various missions among the Iroquois tribes furnish reports of the year's work. Bruyas, who is in charge of the Mohawks, is obliged by the press of his duties to ask for assistance. Many of this tribe have migrated to the French settlements, but many of those who remain are also receiving the gospel, and ask for baptism. The number of these has been greatly increased by the conversion of a promi- nent chief named Assendase. This man has " so
PREFACE TO VOL. LVIII 15
faithfully kept his promises, and practiced all the Christian exercises, that he is the model for all the Christians. ' ' The prospect is bright for the triumph of the faith at Agnie.
Milet reports from Oneida forty-five baptisms^ " much more than I had hoped for, in view of the efforts of the Dutch against us." Here, as at Agnie, a notable chief has been gained to the side of the Faith — in both instances, strongly impelled thereto by the favorable impressions given them by Fronte- nac, at his conference with the Iroquois chiefs in July, 1673, The missionary finds in a lunar eclipse (January 21, 1674) an excellent opportunity to expose the falsity of the claims to supernatural powers made by the medicine-men. Various embassies are sent to Oneida by the other Iroquois tribes, to settle affairs of mutual concern. Milet describes the ceremonies and procedures connected with the appointment, reception, and speeches of these ambassadors. He then proceeds to narrate the details of various baptisms in his mission ; and of the pious actions of some of the leading Christians there. Among these is Louis Taondechoren, a Huron evangelist who devotes himself to spreading the gospel among the pagan Iroquois. In general, the leading men of Oneida are well disposed toward the faith, and many have embraced it. Divorces are much less frequent than formerly; and many are becoming emancipated from bondage to their superstitions. ' ' Drunkenness is probably the sole obstacle that now hinders their conversion."
Many of Lamberville's converts at Onondaga have gone to La Prairie ; his main success now is among the dying. Garakonti^ is still the devoted friend of
16 PREFACE TO VOL. LVIII
the mission, and a shining example of piety and virtue. Lamberville relates the particulars of various baptisms and deaths among his people. He men- tions the great trials that a missionary must endure in his efforts to secure the conversion of old people during protracted illness. * ' Great patience is needed to endure their ill humor and their savage whims, if one desires, in spite of rebuffs, to procure their salva- tion." Most of his baptisms, however, are of chil- dren in danger of death. " This is the most certain fruit that we gather in this country, where it is desirable that the children should die before obtaining the use of their reason."
At Cayuga there have been comparatively few baptisms ; but the savages are more kindly disposed to the faith than heretofore. Their contempt, and even hatred, are being succeeded by esteem, and a desire to be instructed.
Among the Senecas, the missionaries do not have to combat intemperance, for that tribe has had but little intercourse with the white men; but their superstition and licentiousness render the gospel distasteful to them, although in one of the villages Garnier finds the people desirous of baptism, — not willing, however, to give up for it their superstitious dances. The circumstances attending the few con- versions here secured are related at length. Raffeix gives a similar report from his village, emphasizing his work in securing through baptism the salvation of dying children.
With the Iroquois missions is classed that at La Prairie, because the resident savages are mainly Iroquois. These are " no longer arrogant and barbarian, but men perfectly submissive to the laws,
PREFACE TO VOL. LVIII 17
full of gentleness and love for the Gospel." This colony is steadily increasing in numbers, many being attracted thither by friends already settled there. Their abstinence from brandy is steadfast, even in the presence of strong temptations. On one occa- sion, three of them become intoxicated; but, when they return to La Prairie, they are fined by the elders, " and would have been expelled, had they not been married to three of the best Christian women in the village."
The Ottawa missions are next considered. At Sault Ste. Marie, the chapel first built, which was consumed by fire in 167 1, has been replaced by a new and finer one. This, too, was in danger of the same fate, in the spring of 1674, — the residence of the Fathers, which stood near it, being burned to the ground. This fire results from a treacherous attack made upon some Sioux ambassadors who had come to treat for peace, and had been placed, for their safety, in the mission-house. Nevertheless, the ambassadors are attacked even there, by certain Cree Indians who are implacably hostile to the Sioux. The ambassadors are all slain, after having killed many of the Crees and Ottawas. During the fight, the mission-house is burned, with all its contents; and, worst of all, the Fathers see the door shut by which they had hoped to make the gospel enter the Sioux tribes. The Algonkins at the Sault, fearing reprisals from the Sioux for this treacherous murder, take flight ; and the missionaries are thus left alone to face the expected enemy.
Allouez gives an account of his work at Green Bay. " In the conviction that the house of God will protect them," the Illinois tribes are flocking to that region,
18 PR El- ACE TO VOL. LVIII
as well as many from the upper Mississippi. " If they do not all pray as yet, they at least esteem Prayer." When they pass the church, they throw tobacco all around it, as a token of respect " to the greatest divinity of whom they have ever heard."
Andr6 is laboring among the Menomonees and other tribes along the shore of Green Bay. He finds the former invoking the sun to send them success in fishing for sturgeon; he persuades them to replace the image of the sun by his crucifix. On the next day, they catch abundance of fish ; this renders them surprisingly attentive to his instructions. He bap- tizes many children, and two sick men. At another of these outlying stations, the young men are taught the folly of invoking the devil, by the failure of an expedition on which they set out against the Sioux ; they then are willing to have recourse to the true God. Andre's efforts are also aided by the cure of a sick man through baptism. His people go in November to the shore of Lake Michigan, but he is unable to follow them. He falls ill, and is obliged to remain alone at the Menominee River during six weeks, suffering from the cold and his sickness, and exposed to possible attack from enemies; but his confidence in God, and his expectation of the coming of some Illinois bands in January, sustain him amid these hardships.
R. G. T.
Madison, Wis., November, 1899.
CXXX (concluded)
Relation of 1672-73
The greater part of this document was given in Volume LVll.; the remainder is herewith presented.
20 LES RELATIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol.58
ARTICLE 4". DE LA MISSION DES MASKOUTENCH,
ILINOIS &C.
LES Choses que Le P. Claude allouez a fait parmy ces peuples sont tout a fait apostoliques. II a pr^ch6 L euangile auec de grandes fatigues a vn grand nombre de sauuages infideles de diuerses nations, et de Langues differentes [et] auec vn suc- cez considerable, en sorte que par son moyen La connoissance d'vn seul Dieu s'est beaucoup 6tendue dans ces extremitez de La terre iusqu'ou elle n'etoit pas encore arriu^e. La croix de Jesus Christ a €t€ respect^e et plant^e ou jamais elle n'auoit €t€ veue, et plusieurs ames [ont este] regener^es au saint bap- teme qui [Lesquelles] a cause de Leur eloignement, de Leurs mceurs barbares des fatigues qu'il falloit entre- prendre pour Les aller Clierclier, de La diuersit^ des Langues qu'il falloit apprendre pour Leur pouuoir precher, des tenebres grossieres de L'idolatrie, iointe a vn attachement Strange a Leurs superstitions qu'il falloit dissiper pour Les conuertir, sembloient ^tre hors d'esperance d'etre jamais enfans de Dieu. mais il vaut mieux se seruir du journal du m^me Pere pour donner vne Connoissance particuliere de toutes ces Choses.
MON R°. Pere Peu de jours apres Le depart du P. Junri nouuel ie [Je] m'embarquay pour La mission saint Jacques des MachKoutench qui fut Le 9^. Aoust de L annee 1672 [et] i'y arriuay Le 13*. En cette mission nous auons baptise depuis vn an
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 - 7s 2 1
ARTICLE 4TH. OF THE MISSION TO THE MASKOU- TENCH, ILINOIS, AND OTHER TRIBES.
THAT which Father Claude allonez has accom- plished among these tribes is truly apostolic. He has preached The gospel with much toil to a great many pagan savages, of various nations and of differ- ent Languages, [and that] with considerable success ; so that through his instrumentality The knowledge of one God is widely spread in these remote parts of The earth, which it had as yet never reached. The cross of Jesus Christ has been respected, and planted where it had never been seen ; and many souls [have been] regenerated in holy baptism Who — owing to Their remoteness and Their barbarous customs ; the fatigues that must be undergone in going to Seek Them, and The diversity of Languages that had to be learned, in order to be able to preach to Them ; and the thick darkness of idolatry, added to a singular attachment to Their superstitions, which had to be dispelled in order to convert Them — seemed to be beyond hope of ever becoming children of God. But it is better to make use of the journal of the same Father, to convey detailed Knowledge of all these Matters.
MY Reverend Father, , A few days after Father henri nouveVs departure, I embarked for The mission of saint Jacques, among the Machkoutench, — that was on The 9th of August of The year 1672, [and] I arrived there on The 13th. In this mission we have, during the past year, baptized 114 persons, of whom three adults and five children died shortly after baptism.
22 LES RELATIONS DES J^SUITES [Vol.58
114. personnes dont trois adultes [et cinq enfans] sont morts peu apres Le bapt^me, et Cinq enfants
Je commencay a me Loger a part, afin que toutes Les nations pussent Librement venir 6couter Les paroles de vie Car iy comptay vingi; Cabannes d'ili- nou^s, trente grandes cabanes de KiKabou Cinquante de MachKoutench Plus de quatre vingt dix des miamiaK ; [et] trois ouaouiatanouKaK J ay mis notre Chapelle proche du bourg au milieu de Leurs C[li]amps Chez Les machKoutench elle fut preste pour Le iour de L'assomption auquel Jour ie [y] dis La sainte messe.
Peu de temps apres il y eut vn si grand abord et [vne telle] foule de toutes nations qu'il n'etoit pas possible de me faire ecouter ils briserent La Cabane qui 6toit a leur fa9on faites de nates de ionc, pour nous voir a Leur aise ; ne pouuant me faire ecouter [entendre a cette populace] ie fis sortir vn vieiliard pour Leur parler, ils Lui repondoient quits vouloient voir La robe noire, [remedier a Ces desordres mais il ne pent auoir d' autre reponse de tout ce peuple, sinon qu'ils vouloient voir la robe noire.]
Vne partie du jour s'etant ainsy passee ie sors de la Chapelle, et metant mis en vn lieu vn peu emi- nent; il est important dis-ie de m'ecouter, et non pas de me voir, ecoutez moy done, Dieu me fit La grace de Parler La Langue de miami Car La plus grande partie etoit de cette nation, il se fit vn grand silence pendant vne Longue instruction, apres Laquelle ils se mirent a genoux, firent Le signe de La croix, hommes et femmes et enfans et prierent dieu auec moy en Leur Langue.
1672-74] RELATION OF 1672-73 23
I began by procuring a separate Lodging for my- self, so that all The tribes might Freely come and listen to The words of life ; For I counted there twenty Cabins of ilinou6s, thirty large cabins of Kikabou, Fifty of Machkoutench, Over ninety of miamiak, [and] three ouaouiatanoukak.^ I placed our Chapel near the village, in the midst of Their Fields, Among The machkoutench. It was ready for The feast of The assumption, on which day I said holy mass [in it].
Shortly afterward, there was such a concourse and [such a] crowd of all those tribes that it was impos- sible for me to make myself heard. They broke through The Cabin, — which was made, according to their fashion, of rush matting, — to see us at Their ease. As I could not make myself heard [listened to by this mob], I sent out an old man to speak to Them. They replied to Him that they wished to see The black gown, [put a stop to The disorder; but he could obtain no other answer from all the people than that they wished to see the black gown.]
A portion of the day had passed in that manner when I issued from the Chapel, and, placing myself on a slightly elevated spot, I said : " It is important that you should listen to me, and not that you should see me. Listen to me therefore." God granted me The grace of Speaking The miami Language, For The majority belonged to that tribe. Profound silence was observed during a Long instruction ; after Which they knelt down, made The sign of The cross — men, women, and children — and prayed to God with me in Their own Language.
The great number of persons did not prevent my saying holy mass every day. I had hung up a
24 LES RELATIONS DBS J^SUITES [Vol.58
La foule ne m'emp^choit pas de dire La sainte messe tous Les iours. J'auois mis vne Couuerte au milieu pour mettre L'autel hors La veue de La mul- titude ils se tenoient alors dans le respect apres Leur auoir expliqu^ Le mystere de La foy, [et] il y en auoit qui ouurant vn peu La Tapisserie disoient tout bas, ah mon pere voila qui est diuin, et faisoit ensuite faire vn grand silence a ceux qui entroient de nouueau.
Pour Leur donner Le respect qu'il faut rendre aux Eglises, J'obtins que personne n'y petunast, ny ne sentreparlast du moins pendant que i'y etois.
Notre Chapelle ^toit trop petite pour contenir ce peuple des que iauois dis [aclieu6] La messe iinstruisois et faisois prier Dieu ceux que La Chapelle pouuoit contenir, apres quoy ceux la se retirants, Les autres qui leur succedoient receuoient vne pareille instruc- tion, Chacun d'eux en sa Langue, nous Chantions pareillement Les prieres en Leur Langue a La fin de L'instruction, Les petits gargons et petites fiUes prioient aussy Dieu a part et ainsy se passoit La iourn^e en ces saintes occupations, Lorsqu'il y auoit trop de foule Je sortois dehors soit pour me faire entendre de tous, soit pour conseruer notre Chapelle qui eut €\.€ entierement rompue a peine trouuois ie du temps vuide pour prendre ma nouriture.
Le 1 8^. voyant L affection et Le respect que tout ce peuple temoignoit pour nostre sainte foy, ie plan- tay a La porte de notre Chapelle vne croix haute de 22. pieds, ils 6couterent auec silence L'instruction que ie Leur fis sur ce suiet, se mirent a genoux adorerent La croix et prierent Dieu. Les miamy qui y assisterent me dirent voila qui est beau, nous
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672-73 25
Blanket in the middle, to conceal The altar from The gaze of The multitude. They then stood aloof respectfully, after I had explained The mystery of The faith to Them; [and] there were some who pushed back The Hangings a little, and said in a low voice: " Ah, my father, this is divine," and afterward caused the new-comers to observe profound silence.
To inspire Them with The respect that they should pay to Churches, I obtained that no one should smoke, and that they should not converse together in it, at least while I was there.
Our Chapel was too small to contain the people. As soon as I had said [finished] mass, I gave instruction, and made all those whom The Chapel could contain say their prayers, after which they withdrew. Others, who succeeded these, received the same instruction, Each in his own Language. We also Chanted The prayers in Their Tongue, at The end of The instruction. The little boys and girls also prayed to God apart, and thus The day passed in these holy occupations. When the crowd was too great, I went outside, either to make myself heard by all, or to save our Chapel, which would have been completely broken. I had barely time to take my food.
On the 1 8th, seeing The affection and respect that all these people manifested for our holy faith, 1 planted at The door of our Chapel a cross 22 feet high. They listened in silence to The instruction that I gave Them on the subject. They knelt, they adored The cross, and prayed to God. The miamy who were present said to me : ' ' This is excellent ; we thank thee for it. Say the same to all The Captains
•26 LES RELATIONS DES J^SUJTES [Vol.68
t'en remercions, dis le a tons Les Capitaines en conseil, [mais il est bon que tu explique cela en plein Conseil a tous Les Capitaines]
Le iQc. Jallay chez les miamy i'assemblay Les anciens Je Leur expliquay Les poincts principaux de La foy, [et] Le mistere de La croix ils m'ecouterent auec approbation Le soir [ce qu ils firent bien paroitre des Le soir] ie vis des tresses de bled d inde, des ceintures et des iartieres rouges qu'ils auoient pendues a La croix. [ce qui ne se fait parmy eux que pour marque de veneration.]
Le 2oe. deux des principaux miami me vindrent trouuer et me prierent que quand ie m'en irois ie Leur donnasse Le dicte [cette] croix pour La trans- porter a leur bourgade; elle n'est pas bien chez Les machKoutench, me disoient ils, ils ne t'obeissent pas : ie ne Leur r6pondis pas Clairement. neanmois ils firent Courrir le bruit que ie La Leur auois don- n6e: Les machKoutench, ayant ouj cela sen [appris] viennent [s'en] plaindre et me diretit [a moy me disants] qu'ils ne souffriroient pas quelle ftit enleuee du Lieu ou elle etoit, cette sainte contestation me donnoit de La ioye, pour contenter Leur deuotion ie Leur promis qu'elle ne seroit point enleuee du Lieu ou elle etoit, et pour satisfaire au souhait des miami ien fis faire vne autre semblable que ie plantay a [transport^e ailleurs mais que pour satisfaire Les miami J 'en ferois faire vne autre toute semblable, de fait J'en plantay vne en] leur bourgade Comme i' auois fait La premiere ches Les machKoutench.
Le soir 6tant alle en vne Cabane pour y voir vne malade qui ^toit veniie prier Dieu Le matin [en tres manuals estat] ie fus surpris de La voir guerie, ie ne
1672-74] RELATION OF J672-73 27
in council. ' ' [But it is well that thou shouldst explain this in open Council to all The Captains."]
The 19th. I went to the miamy. I gathered The elders together and explained to Them The prin- cipal points of The faith, [and] The mystery of The cross; they listened to me with approval. At night [This they plainly manifested, for at night] I saw that they had hung on The cross clusters of Indian corn, girdles, and red garters. [This is done among them only as a mark of veneration.]
On the 20th, two of the principal miami came to me, and begged that, when I should go away, I would give Them that cross, that they might take It to their village. " It is not in its right place with The machkoutench, " they said to me; "they obey thee not." I gave Them no Positive answer; neverthe- less, they Spread the report that I had given It to Them. The machkoutench on hearing [learning] this, came to complain [of it], and told me [to me, say- ing] that they would not allow it to be removed from the Spot where it was. This holy contention gave me joy. To satisfy Their devotion, I promised Them that it should not be removed from the Place where it zvas; and, to gratify the desire of the miami, I caused another similar one to be made, which I erected in [transported elsewhere ; but that, in order to satisfy The miami, I would have another similar one made. In fact, I erected one in] their village, As I had planted The first among The machkoutench.
At night, I went to a Cabin to see a sick woman, who had come to pray to God in The morning [in a very bad state of health] ; I was surprised to find Her cured. I did not recognize Her, for she was work- ing like The other women. She told me that, after
28 LES RELATIOXS DES J^SUITES [Vol.58
La connoissois plus car elle trauailloit comme Les autres femmes, elle me dit qu'apres etre sortie de La Chapelle, 6tant arriu^e Chez elle son abc6s auoit creu6 et s'etoit dissip^ si heureusement qu'elle n'y sentoit plus aucun mal. on nous auoit emnien6 cette pauure femme pesle mesle auec Les hommes, ie ne La connoissois pas Car elle auoit La t^te enuelop^e, iusquk ce qu'apres auoir aclieu6 L' instruction La voulent faire sortir auec Les autres, elle se tint a genoux et me dit, mon Pere ayez piti6 de moy, a peine pouuoit elle parler, alors ie Luy vis Le Col et Le visage etrangement enfle heureusement: ie Lafis eticore [L'inuitay] prier Dieu derechef, ce qu'elle fit auec ferueur. elle fit Le signe de La croix, et tint Les mains iointes comme si elle y eut est6 ^leuee des son has aage, cet exterieur ^toit anime, d'vne foy viue en veiie de Laquelle il plut a Dieu Luy rendre La sant^.
Le 21. elle ne manqua pas de bon matin de porter a La Chapelle vn petit present de bled d'inde en actions de graces, i'en remercie Dieu auec elle
Le 22^. Je remarquay L'eclipse du soleil qui arri- ua sur Les vnze heures Je ne pus pas bien obseruer ses qualitez, Les sauuages qui m'occupoient ne s'en mirent pas en peine da^is Leau mise dans vne CJiaudiere.
Le 23^ passant par Les Cabanes de machKoutench ainsy que ie fais souuent sans entrer partout pour decouurir Les malades Car ils ne manquent pas de m'apeller quand il y en a passant done on m'apelle, viens voir vn Corps mort, me dit vn homme, etant entre ie vis [J'entre et Je vois] vn homme sur son scant accompagne de ses amis, qui me dit qu'il
1 672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 - 73 29
she had left The Chapel and had reached her Dwell- ing, her abscess had broken, and had disappeared so happily that she no longer felt any pain. This poor woman had been brought to us, crowded in with The men. I did not know Her, Because Her head was bandaged, until, after I had finished The instruction, when I wished to make Her go out with The others, she remained on her knees and said to me : " My Father, have pity on me." She could hardly speak. Then I noticed that Her Neck and face were very much inflamed. Fortunately I made Her [urged Her to] pray to God once more. She did so with fervor; she made The sign of The cross, and kept her hands clasped, as if she had been brought up to it from her infancy. Her countenance was animated by a lively faith, in consequence of Which God was pleased to restore Her health.
On the 2ist, she did not fail to come at an early hour to The Chapel, to bring a small present of Indian corn in thanksgiving. I thanked God with her.
The 22nd. I noticed The eclipse of the sun, which occurred about eleven o'clock; I could not well observe its notable features. The savages, who kept me occupied, did not trouble themselves about it. in water poured into a Kettle.
The 23rd. I was passing by The machkoutench Cabins, as I frequently do, without entering every- where to see whether there are An}'- sick, — For they never fail to call me, when there are any. Accord- ingly, while I was passing, they called out to me, " Come and see a dead Body," a man said to me. Having entered, I satv [I entered, and saw] a man in a sitting posture, surrounded by his friends. He told me that he had not eaten [any food] for Five
so LES RELATIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol.68
n'auoit [point] mang6 depuis Cinq iours, mats [mais qu'il auoit] seulement [vn pen] petun6, parcequ'il ne se Comptoit plus au nombre des viuans il se croy- oit mort. Luy ay ant tast^ Le poux Je Luy trouuay vn pen de fieure, et Luy dis qu'il netoit pas encore mort. [vivoit encore] Mais qu il pourroit bien mourir et pris occasion de L'instruire. Ce pauure homme apprenoist qu'il n'etoit pas encore mort, demanda a manger, et fit bien voir qu'il ne L'^toit pas, [estoit viuant] on ne peut moderer Les sauuages quand ils sont malades ny Leur faire garder aucun regime de vie. Dieu Luy auoit donn6 ce semble, quelque presentiment de sa mort, pour Le disposer a La grace du bapteme /e Uy disposay de ma part [Je m'y appli- quay] tous Les iours Jusques au troisiesme du mois suiuant auquel iour ie Luy conferay Le bapteme Le voyant en danger, tres bien dispose, il demanda plu- sieurs fois Le baptime. Lor s que ie Linstruisois pour s' y disposer; pourquoy ne me baptise tu pas? disoit il, tu ne mayme pas si tu ne me baptise, [et me L'ayant Deman- der bien des fois auec des grandes Instances] La veille de mon depart qui fut trois iours apres son bap- teme [L'auoir baptise] ie Luy recommanday de faire diuers actes de foy, d'esperance et de Charite Le Lendemain au matin Luy ayant demande sil sen etoit souuenu, il me demanda [pria de Luy baillerj mon Crucifix, il Le prit et Le frottant doucement auec La main, qui est Comme parmi Les Europeans Le baiser, homme Dieu Jesus ie vous ayme dit il, et si vous me rend6s La vie, ie vous aymeray autant que ie viuray sur terre et si ie meurs ie vous ayme- ray a iamais dans Le Ciel, ayez piti6 de moy. voila me dit il ce que i'ay dit toute La nuict, car ie n'ay
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 - 73 31
days, but had only smoked [a little], because lie no longer Considered himself among the number of the living ; he thought that he was dead. After feeling His pulse, I found Him a little feverish, and told Him that he was not yet dead [still lived], But that indeed he might die ; and I seized the opportunity to instruct Him. When this man learned that he was not yet dead, he asked for food, and showed very plainly that he was not [alive]. One cannot moderate sav- ages when they are sick, or make Them follow any regimen. It seems as if God had sent Him some presentiment of his death, to prepare Him for The grace of baptism. On my part, I prepared Him [I applied myself to this] every day. Until the third of the following month, — on which day I administered baptism to Him, when I saw Him in danger and very well instructed, He asked for baptism several times. While I was instructing Him, in order to prepare him for it, he would say to me: ' ' IVhy dost thou not baptize me? Thou lovest me not, if thou baptize me not.'' [and when he had Asked me for It many times, with much Earnestness.] The evening before my departure, which was three days after his baptism [I had baptized Him], I recommended that He should make various acts of faith, hope, and Charity. On the Following morning, when I asked Him if he had remembered to do so, he asked me for [begged me to lend Him] my Crucifix. He took It, and, stroking It gently with His hand, — which is the same As A kiss among Europeans, — he said: " Jesus, God-man, I love you; if you restore me to life, I shall love you as long as I shall live on earth ; and if I die I shall love you for- ever in Heaven. Have pity on me." " That," said he, '* is what I said all night long, for I have not slept
82 LES RELATIONS DESjASUITES [Vol.68
point du tout dormy. II disoit tout cela La Larme a Loeil et auec affection il Le redit encore plusieurs fois, adioutant des actes desperance et de foy il [et] mourut quelques semaines apres mon Depart, dans Les memes sentimens Comme ie croy. [Jay tout sujet de Le Croire]
Le 29. 6tant all6 apeller vn ieune Chretien Mach- Koutencli pour prier Dieu, ie rencontray vne troupe d'ilinoiies qui me suiuirent. ces pauures peuples sont si aises de voir vne robe noire que nous ne pou- uons aller nuUe part sans estre bien accompagne en sorte que nous ne pouuons parler a personne en particulier ny chez eux ny dans La Chape He. lis admiroient que ieusse pris La peine d'aller trouuer vn [ce] ieune garfon ie Leur en appris L' importance et pris de la occasion de Les instruire. Dieu me fit La grace de me faire entendre, apres m'auoir remercie de Les auoir instruicts, ils me firent plusieurs questions aus- quelles nous tachdmes [Je tache] de satisfaire; enfin ils me demanderent ce que i'aymois en ce pais car ils ne scauoient quest ce qiiils ^ne deuoient presenter qui m agreast, [ne scachant que me presenter] tu refuses Le Castor, disoient ils, tu ne viens pas a nos festins Lors que nous t'y appellons; ils disent vray, Car ils ont L' esprit si foible qu'ils se figurent que nous venons en ce pais pour cela et que ce que nous Leur prechons de L'enfer et du Paradis n'est que par ma- niere d'entretien, tout ainsy qu'eux venants de loin racontent des nouuelles du Lieu d'ou ils viennent et ainsy La parole de Dieu perd sa force. Je satisfis a tout cela Leur expliquant Les biens eternels que Dieu a promettoit [promet a] ceux qui Luy obeissent, et Leur montrant La difference de ceux La d'auec
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672- 73 33
at all." He said all this with Tears in His eyes, and with affection. He repeated It again several times, adding acts of hope and faith ; [and,] some weeks after my Departure, he died in The same sentiments. As / believe [I have every reason to Believe].
The 29th. While proceeding to call a young Chris- tian Machkoutench to pray to God, I met a band of ilinou^s, who followed me. These poor people are so pleased to see a black gown that we cannot go anywhere without having a goodly company, — so that we cannot speak to any one privately, either in their homes or in The Chapel. They were astonished to see that I took The trouble to go to a [that] young man. I showed Them how important it was, and seized the opportunity to instruct Them. God granted me The grace of making myself understood. After thanking me for having instructed Them, they put to me several questions, to which we [I] endeavored to reply. Finally, they asked me what I liked in that country, for they knew not what they might present to me that would please me [not knowing what to present to me]. " Thou refusest Beaver-skins," they said; " thou comest not to our feasts When we invite thee." They speak truly. For Their minds are so weak that they imagine that we come to this country for that object, and that what we preach to Them about hell and Paradise is merely by way of conver- sation,— just as those who come from afar relate news of the Place whence they come ; and thus The word of God loses its force. I satisfied them on all those points, by explaining to Them The eternal blessings that God has promised [promises to] those who obey Him, and by showing Them The difference between those blessings and The earthly goods for
84 LES RELATIONS DES j£SUITES [Vol.58
Les biens de ce monde pour Lesquels ils prennent beaucoup de peine, Comme sont Les haches, Les Chan- dler es &c. ils m'ecoutoient auec grande attention et se redisoient en leur Lang-ue ce que j'auois dit en Langue des miami qui est quasi La m^me.
Le dernier jour du mois, i'eus vne petite indisposi- tion de Rhume qui m'empecha de parler, notre Chapelle etant ouuerte en plusieurs endroits pour auoir ete rompue bien souuent etoit exposee a tous vents ce qui fut Cause que ie m'en rhumay. bien que ie ne pusse pas Les instruire a mon ordinaire, ils venoient pourtant pour voir disoient ils La robe noire, qui auoit La voix morte, et Le gozier malade, ie ne pouuois me faire entendre qu'a mon voisin pour Leur dire que La robe noire etoit vn homme comme eux qui 6toit malade, et qui mouroit comme eux, qu'il n'y auoit qu'vn seul esprit souuerain et Immortel &c.
Le 6^. de septembre etant apelle ailleurs outre que la voix me manquoit ie partis pour aller chez nous, i'eus La consolation quelques iours auparauant de voir mourir vn enfant Miami de nation, qui d'abord apres Le bapt^me sen vola au Ciel d'entre mes bras, et d 'auoir trouue vn pauure vieillard MacliKoutench de nation malade qui auoit Le nez Les Leures, et Les yeux mangez d'vn Chancre, qui par consequent etoit aueugle, a peine parle-t il et a peine entend-il, il est hydeux et puant Comme vn Cadaure c est pour cela qu ils U apellent vn tchipai, mais il est deuenu beau interieurement en son ame, car ayant ete suffi- samment dispose veu Le danger ou il est il a 6t6 regenere aux saincts fonds de bapteme, et nous L'auons apelle Lazare.
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 - 73 35
Which they take much trouble, Such as hatchets, Kettles, etc. They listened to me very attentively, and repeated in their own Tongue what I had said in the Language of the miami, which is almost The same.
On the last day of the month, I had a slight Cold, which prevented me from speaking. Our Chapel being open in many places, for it had been broken very frequently, was exposed to every wind; and this was the Cause of my catching cold. Although I could not teach Them as usual, they nevertheless came, as they said, to see The black gown, whose voice was dead and whose throat was sick. I could not make myself heard further than my nearest neighbor, to tell Them that The black gown was a man like them, who was ill and who would die as they would ; that there was but one spirit sovereign and Immortal, etc.
On the 6th of September, being called elsewhere, and my voice still failing me, I started to go home. I had The consolation, some days previously, of witnessing the death of a child of the Miami tribe, who, immediately after Its baptism, soared away to Heaven from my arms ; and of finding a poor old man, of the Machkoutench tribe, who was ill, and whose nose, Lips, and eyes are eaten by a Cancer. Consequently he is blind; he can hardly speak or hear; he is as hideous, and as offensive to the smell, As is a Corpse. That is why He is called a ^^ tchipai [i.e., corpse\' ' But he has become beautiful inwardly, in his soul; for, after he had been sufficiently pre- pared, he was, in view of The danger in which he lies, regenerated in the holy waters of baptism, and we named Him Lazare.
S6 LES RELATIONS DES Jl^SUITES [Vol.68
Le 9*. descendant Les rapides nos maielots creuerent noire Canot, iauois pris de deuant par terre, et J' etois deja arriue au Lieu nomine Le KaKaling a vne Lieue de la a nuict Close vn de nos matelots men vint aduertir: nous rcbroussames sur nos pas etant arriuez, nous ne piimes Labordcr pour auoir quelque peu de nos viures pour noire souper.
Le Lendemain nous alldvies retirer de U eau noire bagage ioui mouill(- mhne ma Chapelle et mes escrits apres auoir mis Le ioui au sec, t enuoy^ par ierre deux matelots pour aller acheter vn Canot, et demeuray auec vn autre qui ^ioii malade degrade dans vn Islet de dix pieds de Long; iusquau seizieme que nous en partimes et arriudmes a noire Chapelle remcrcier Dieu de nous auoir affiige et de nous en auoir retire.
Le ly'. J' allay au fort des pouteouatami pour y /aire nos prouisions de bled, i y fis a mhne temps vne petite Mission ou ie receus plus de satisfaction que ie n en auois receu d'eux par Le passL [nostre canot s'estant creu6 fut mis hors de seruice, et moy Je fus degrade sur vn islet de Dix pieds de long ou Je passe 8 jours auec vn de mes hommes malades pendant qu'on estoit alle chercher vn autre canot, nous partimes done dessus cet Islet Le sixiesme et nous arriuames enfin en nostre Chapelle de s^ Xauier pour y remercier Dieu de nous auoir afliges, et de nous auoir retires Du Danger]
{article 5^. DE LA MISSION DES POUTEOUATAMI ET AUTRES PEUPLES DANS LA BAYE DES PUANS.]
DANS cette mission de s^ Frangois Xauier soit icy a nostre maison, soit au fort des pouteouatami depuis vn an J 'ay baptise trente quatre [personnes]
1 672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 - 73 37
The 9th. While descending The rapids, our mariners broke our Canoe. I had gone on ahead by land, and had reached a Place called The Kakaling, a League farther, at Nightfall. One of the boatmen came to tell m,e of it. We retraced our steps; but when we arrived, we could not reach the canoe, to get sojne of our provisions for supper.
On the following Day, we recovered from The water our baggage, which was soaked through, even my Chapel and -my writings. After drying Everything, I sent two boat- ^nen by land to buy a Canoe; and remained with another, who was ill, stranded on an Islet ten feet Long, until the sixteenth; we then departed, and arrived in our Chapel to thank God for having afflicted us, and for having extricated us from, trouble.
On the lyth, I went to the fort of the pouteouatami, to procure a supply of corn. At the same time, I gave a short Mission, at which I obtained more satisfaction than I had derived from them in The past, [our canoe was staved in, and became unserviceable; and I was stranded on an islet Ten feet long, where I passed 8 days with one of my men, who was ill, while the others went to seek for another canoe. We left the Islet on The sixteenth, and finally arrived in our Chapel of st. Xavier to thank God for having afflicted us and extricated us From Danger.]
[article 5TH. OF THE MISSION TO THE POUTEOUA- TAMI AND OTHER TRIBES IN THE BAY DES PUANS.]
IN this mission of st. Frangois Xavier — either here at our house, or at the fort of the pouteouatami — I have, during the past year, baptized thirty-four [persons], among Whom was an adult man who was ill, and who died shortly afterward; The remainder
38 LES RELATIONS DES JJ^SUITES [Vol.68
entre Lesquelles II y a vn homme adulte malade qui mourut peu apres, Le reste sont des enfans sans compter ceux que Le R. P. Andr6 y a baptist.
C'etoit auec Consolation que ie voyois m^me Les vieillards venir a La Chapelle se mettre a genoux, Joindre Les mains serieusement, et faire Le signe de La croix et prier Dieu auec respect, i'y ay dit La messe paisiblement tous Les iours.
Le 27. ie plantay vne grande croix sur vn platon au bord du Lac entre Le village des pouteouatami et celuy des puants au bout de notre Chapelle de quoy Les anciens temoignerent vne grande ioye, exborterent tout Le monde par vn cry public qu'ils firent Le meme soir [eussent] a porter tout Le monde du [vn grand] respect a La sainte croix plant^e dans leur pays pour marque du Christianisme qu'ils vouloient embrasser.
Apres auoir baptist quelques enfans, et vn homme dangereusement malade ie suis oblige de me retirer Chez nous Quelque temps apres ie U allay visiter ie fus obligi d' aller par terre La moitie du Chemin par vn mauuais pais Le vent nous emp^chant de trauerser L'ance Laissant mon matelot a L' entree de La riuiere pour gar der Le Canot Je reqeus consolation voyant [Et comme Je retournois pour Le voir, par vn tres meschant pais et D'vn fort mauuais temps, J'ay La Consolation de voir] de loin La croix que nous anions plantee, et ce me fut vne nouuelle ioye d'aprendre que les enfans y alloient prier Dieu ainsy que ie Leur auois recommande en effect Les femmes et Les enfans et meme quelques hommes m'y suiuerent volontiers Lorsque ie Les y inuitay, ils se mirent tous a genoux a Lentour, ou apres vne Courte
1672-74] RELATION OF 1672-73 39
are children. I do not count those whom Reverend Father Andre baptized there.
It was a Comfort to me to see even The old people come to The Chapel, kneel down, Clasp Their hands gravely, make The sign of The cross, and pray to God respectfully. I said mass there in peace, every day.
On the 27th, I planted a great cross on a plateau on the shore of the Lake, between The village of the pouteouatami and that of the puants at the end of our Chapel. The elders manifested much joy at this; they notified all by public proclamation, which they made The same night, that they must all pay [great] respect to The holy cross, planted in their country as a symbol of the Christianity which they desired to embrace.
After having baptized some children, and a man who was dangerously ill, I was compelled to withdraw to our House. Some time afterward, I went to visit Him,. I was obliged to go by land, One-half the Journey being through a difficult country. The wind prevented us from crossing The bay; so I Left my boatman at The mouth of The river to watch The Canoe. I was consoled when I saw [And, when I returned to see Him, over a very diffi- cult country and In very bad weather, I had The Consolation of seeing] from afar The cross that we had planted; and it gave me renewed joy to learn that the children went there to pray to God as I had recommended Them to do. In fact, The women and children, and even some of the men, followed me willingly When I invited Them there. They all knelt Around it, and, after a Short instruction, we recited The usual prayers. After having comforted, instructed, and prepared our sick man for death, and
40 LES RELATIONS DES J^SUITES [Vol.68
instruction nous recitames Les prieres ordinaires.
apres auoir console, instruit, et dispose a La mort
notre malade, visits plusieurs Cabanes soit de Chrestiens
soit d'autres et baptist quelques enfans, ie me retiray
Le soir par Le meme Chemin benissant nostre
seigneur qui nous fait vn peu de part des peines qu'il
a pris pour Le salut des ames, ie n eus pas neanmoins
La consolation de le voir mourir, La der?iiere fois que ie
Le vis m ay ant dit quil decabaneroit Le Lendeniain et
quil passeroit a ndtre Chapelle pour y prier Dieu ie ne
U allay pas voir d auantage, Dieu permit quil ne vint pas
ce jour La et quil inourUt Le Lendemaiji, il ^toit ce semble
bien dispose, et i" espere que Dieu Luy aura fait tnisericorde.
Benedictus Deus et Pater Domini nostri Jesu
Cbristi. dans Les forests ou nous viuons parmi Les
sauuages Dieu nous donne cette consolation de voir
L'etendart de La sainte Croix plantee et honnoree
de toutes Les quatre bourgades ou nous sommes en
toutes Lesquelles ce saint arbre a produit des fruits
pour Le Ciel, et La mission de saint franjois de La
baye des puants ou sont Les pouteouatami Les saKi,
Les ouenibigouc, Les OumalouminiK, Les outaous-
sinagouc &c, Chacun sa Langue particuliere : plus
auant de [dans] Les bois vers L' Occident a [est] La
mission de s^ marc des outagami ou sont Les ouagous-
saK, MaKoua, maKoucoue MiKissioua: encore plus
auant vers L Occident dans Les bois sont Les atcha-
teraKangouen Les MacliKoutencli Marameg, KiKaboua,
Kitchigamich : Le bourg des miami ou sont Les
atchatchaKangouen et ou viennent Les Ilinoue Les
KaKachKioueK Peoualen, ouaouiatanouK memilou-
nioue, pepiKouKia, KilitiKa, mengaKonKia, Les vns
pour peu de temps Les autres pour plus long temps,
1672-74] RELATION OF j6j2-73 41
after having visited several Cabins, both of Christians atid others, and baptized some children, I returned at night by The same Road, — praising our lord, who gives us a little share in the pains that he took for The salvation of souls. Nevertheless, I had not The consolation of seeing him die. The last time w he 7i I saw Him, he told me that he would remove his cabin on The following Day, and would pass by our Chapel to pray to God. I did not go to see Him again. God willed that he should not come on that day and that he should die on The Morroiv. He seemed to be well prepared, and I trust that God has had mercy on Him.
" Benedictus Deus et Pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi." In The forests where we live among The savages, God grants us the consolation of seeing The standard of The holy Cross planted and honored in The four villages where we are, in all of Which that holy tree has brought forth fruits for Heaven ; and of beholding The mission of saint frangois at The bay des puants, where are The pouteouatami. The saki, The ouenibigouc. The Oumalouminik, The outaoussinagouc, and others. Each tribe has its special Dialect. Deeper in The woods, toward The west, is The mission of st. marc to the outagami, where are The ouagoussak, Makoua, makoucoue, Mikissioua. Still farther to The westward, in The woods, are The atchaterakangouen, The Machkoutench, Marameg, Kikaboua, and Kitchigamich ; The village of the miami, where The atchatchakangouen are, and whither come The Ilinoue, The Kakachkiouek, Peoualen, ouaouiatanouk, memilounioue, pepikoukia, Kilitika, mengakonkia, — Some for a short time, Others for a longer time. These tribes dwell on The
42 LES RELATIONS DES J&SUITES [Vol.58
peuples demeurants Le Long de Missisipi, et qui parlent tons meme Langue.
M'cta?tt retire a ndtre maison, nous employdmes Le inois d" octobre a instruire ct /aire prier Dieu Les passants qui alloicnt a Leur Chassc d' autoinne et d' hyuer, et a baptiser ceux que Les parents nous presefitoietit aticun sauuage ne s' arret e icy a cause qtiil 7i y a pas de gla?ids cette ann^e 71 y de Canards.
[article 6= DE] LA MISSION [DE] SAINT MARC DES
OUTAGAMI
J? AY baptise depuis vn an c est a dire depuis Juin de i6j2 iusqtia iuifi de iSyj, i'y a baptist [en cette Mission] 48 : personnes desquels vn enfant et deux adultes sont morts peu apres Le bapt^me.
Ayant appris que quelques Cabanes des outagami ^toient demcuries a Leur bourg a Cause des malades qui ne pouuoient Marcher c etoietit ceux que fauois baptist Le print emps passe ie Les allay voir ce fut [Estant en Chemin pour aller aux Outagami] Le 4^. nouembre que ie partis pour y aller par terre, sur Le midi nous trouuames vn peu a L'ecart du Chetnin [et vis a vis dvn petit rapide] vne grande roche taill6e grossierement en statue d'homme, dont Le visage auoit et6 peint de rouge, elle etoit vis a vis d'vn petit rapide a deux lieiies en dega du grand rapide qu'on nomme Le KaKalinK. c'est vn Idole que Les passants inuoquent pour L'heureux succez de Leur voyage, nous La rolames dans L'eau.
Le 6^. apres auoir adore [nous estant rendus proche du bourg nous adorames] La croix que nous anions plant^e a Leur bourg L'hyuer passe 7ious allanies dire La sainte messe dans V7ie des Caba7ies de grosse ecorce qui
1672-74] RELATION OF 1672-73 43
Banks of the Missisipi, and all speak the same Language.^
After I had withdrawn to our house, we spent The month of October in instructing Those who passed us on their way to Their autumn and winter Hunting, in makiyig them pray to God, and in baptizing the children who were brought to us by Their parents. No savages remain here, because this year there are neither acorns nor Ducks.
[article 6th. of] the mission of saint marc
to the outagami.
I HAVE baptized during the past year, — that is, from June, i6y2, to jutie, i6yj, — / have baptized there [in that Mission,] 48 persons, of whom a child and two adults died shortly after baptism.
Having learned that some Cabins of outagami had remained in Their village on Account of the sick, who could not Walk, — they were those whom I had baptized The previous spring, — / wefit to see Them. It was [While on the Road to the Outagami, — ] The 4th of november, when I left to go there by land, — about noon we found, at a little distance from the Road, [opposite a small rapid,] a great rock, roughly carved into the figure of a man. The face of which had been painted red. It was opposite a small rapid, two leagues on this side of a great rapid called The Kakalink. It is an Idol which passers-by invoke for The fortunate result of Their journey. We rolled It into The water. '^
O71 the 6th, after adoring [When we came near the village, we adored] The cross that we had planted in Their village The previous winter, we went to say holy mass in one of the Cabins, made of large pieces of bark, in The fort; after that, we Sotight The savages, whom we
44 LES RELATIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol.58
sont dans Le fort apres qiwy nous Clierchdntes Les saiiuages que nous decouurimes de Loin a La faiieur de La fumde qui paroissoit dans Le bois nous y trouudmes nos deux CJird- tiens malades et Leur parent e en dix Cabanes, tous [tout Le monde, a mon arriu6] mais surtout Les malades me firent beaucoup de Caresses apprenant que le suiet de mon arriuee [voyage] n'etoit [que] pour Les consoler et Les voir et non pour autre chose car mdme ie ne soufris pas que Les franqois qui etoient auec moy achevasse ny bled ny autre Chose [pour Les In- struire] .
De plusieurs Malades Adultes que J'auois baptist U hyuer pass^ trots etoient morts [Lan passe] il n'en restoitque deux, a qui il restat [qui auoient encore] vn peu de vie, ie Les allay voir deux fois Le tour [comme Je Les visitois] pour Les disposer a la mort, ie m'ap- perceus qu'vn de ceux la nomm^ Joseph qui est Capitaine des outagami et qui gouuerne [manie] Les affaires, faisant sa priere demandoit touiours La vie [presente] et comme ie luy parlois de La vie du Ciel, [celle Du Paradis] il me dit qu'il ne songeoit pas a la mort, qu'il n'etoit pas encore bien vieux, et quil demandoit a Dieu La vie du Corps [en vn mot qu'il priroit Dieu quil Luy donnast la vie du Corps.] ie demeur^ bien deux beures iusqua ce quil se niii [pour mettre son esprit] dans L indif erence Chr6tienne a la [et Le resigner a la] volonte du souuerain maistre, rien ne Le toucha a L'egal de L'exemple de Nostre seigneur dont ie Luy racontay L'agonie et La Priere [quil fit] au jardin des oliues, il se rendit alors, et malgr6 Le Chagrin d'vne Longue maladie ie vis vn Changement notable que fit La grace dans son esprit : II prit Le Crucifix et fit Luy meme sa priere
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 - 73 45
discovered fro7n Afar by means of The smoke that appeared in The woods. We found there our tzvo sick Christians and Their kindred, in ten cabins. All [The people, upon my arrival], but especially The sick, received me very Heartily, wlien they learned that the object of my arrival [journey] was solely to comfort and see Them, ajid nothing else; for I would not allow The french with me to buy cor?i or Anything else [Instruct Them].
Of several Sick Adults whom I had baptized dur- ing The past winter, three had died and [year,] there remained but two in whom lingered [who still retained] a little life. / went to see Them twice A day, [When I visited Them,] to prepare Them for death, I observed that one of them, named Joseph, who is a Captain of the outagami and who governs [manages] Their affairs, always asked for The [present] life when he prayed. And when I spoke to him of Tlie life of Heaven [that Of Paradise], he told me that he thought not of death, that he was not yet very old, and that he asked God for The life of the Body [ — in a word, that he would entreat God to grant Him the life of the Body]. I spent fully two hours before he could be brought [to reduce his mind] to A Christian indifference [and resignation] to the will of the sovereign master. Nothing touched Him so much as The example of Our lord, when I told Him of His agony and of The Prayer [that he offered] in the garden of olives. He yielded then, and, in spite of The Suffering of a Long illness, I saw a marked Change effected by grace in his soul. He took The Crucifix, and Himself said his prayer, like that of our lord, with [a] perfect submission and [a] Christian indifference to life and to death.
The other is a good woman named Marie. When,
46 LES RELATIONS DES j£SU/TES [Vol.58
conforme a celle de nostre seigneur auec [vne] sou- mission parfaite et [vne] indifference Chr^tienne pour La vie et pour La mort.
L'autre est vne bonne femme nomm^e Marie Luy ayant demand^ pour La disposer a La confession, si elle ne se fachoit pas quel que fois helas dit elle, et comment me pourrois ie facher moy qui ne me Compte plus au nombre des viuants Je ne suis autre Chose qu'vn corps mort.
J'employois Le reste du jour a instruire Les autres sauuages qui venoient continuellement a La Cabane ou ie m'etois retir6 pour prier Dieu ils nous y appor- terent quelques enfans pour 6tre baptisez.
Jy trouuay vn autre malade c'etoit vn ieune homme qui ^tant en guerre auoit ete y bless6 a La Cuisse d'vn Coup de fleche La pierre de La fleche ^toit demeuree dans La Chair ce qui Luy auoit Cause vn vlcere qui fluoit continuellement et L'auoit reduit en tel 6tat qu'il sembloit vne squelette, ie Le dispo- say au bapt^me qu'il recent auec ioye et [auec de grands] remerciements, et Le nonini^ Marc.
Les onziesme ie partis pour /aire tratiailler a Notre Eglise
Le 20'. du m^me mois ie partis de rechef pour aller voir ces malades qui i auois Laissd a Lextremit^ ie n y se- journ^ quvn iour parcequil decabanoient pour aller a La Chasse du Castor pendant cette journee ils ioindrent tous meme Les plus vieux pour nous ^couter et pour prier Dieu. deux de ces malades queie trouuay a L extremite ie Leur donne [en mesme temps 2 femmes Chrestiennes estant reduites a L'extremite Je Leur Donne] Le dernier sacrement de L'extreme onction apres Les y [en] auoir instruits et disposes qui se fit auec grand respect
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 - 73 47
in order to incline Her to confession, I asked Her whether she did not sometimes get angry, she replied ; "Ah, how could I get angry? — I, who am no longer Counted among the living! I am Nothing but a dead body. ' '
I passed The remainder of the day in teaching The other savages, who came continually to The Cabin whither I had withdrawn to pray to God.. They brought us some children to be baptized.
I found there another sick person. This was a young man, who had been wounded in battle by an arrow- Shot in The Thigh ; the stone arrow-head had remained in The Flesh, and had Produced an ulcer, which ran continually; this had reduced Him to such a state that he seemed a skeleton. I prepared Him for baptism, which he received with joy and [much] thankfulness, and I named Him Marc.
On the eleventh I departed, in order to have some work done on Our Church.
On the 20th of the same month, I started once more to go and see those sick people, whom I had Left in A dying condition. I remained there ojily one day, because they- were breaking up camp to go and Hunt Beaver. During- the day, they all came, even The oldest people, to liste^i to us and pray to God. To two of the sick, whom I found at The last extremity, I gave [At the same time, 2 Christian women being reduced to The last extremity, I Gave Them] The last sacrament of extreme unction, after having instructed Them and prepared them for it., This was effected with great respect, — not only on Their part, but even on that of the others who were present, and who looked upon the Ceremony with admiration.
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non seulement de Leur part mais meme des autres qui ^toient presents et qui admiroient cette Cere- monie.
Le 2^. ie m en retourni et adore La saint e croix que nous trouudvies en nostre Chemin apres Hre sorty du bois.
Le y. feburier i6yj. ay ant apris que Les outagami Hoient de rctour de leur Chasse plustot que Les autres anji^es, a cause d'vn saKi tud par vn outagami a La Chasse, ic partis de rechef pour /aire vne mission V7i peu plus longue, Le Chemin ^toit malais^, nous arriudmes a Leur bourg Le 6^.
Le malin esprit a fait des efforts Contre ce pauure pC2iple, Les outagami venus d' Ambassade des Iroquois depuis quinze iours auoient receu de m,auuaises impressions du Christianisme et Les ont Comtnuniqu^ a Leurs compa- triottes: depuis Le printemps Les Nadouessi Leur ont pris ou tu^ trente perso7incs dont La plus part auoient pri^ Dieu auant allant e7i guerre, a peine trouuay ie dequoy in.e Cabaner ie fus oblige de me retirer en vne vieille Cabane ouuerte de tous Cotez que nous racommoddmes vn peu neanmoifis.
Le 8'. estant Caban^ a part a fin que tous pussent auec Libert^ venir ecouter La parole de Dieu, i y dressay vne petite Chape lie ou i' ay fait paisiblement toutes nos fonc- iions, dit tous Les iours La sainte messe baptist auec Les ceremonies de U Eglise: inuectiv^ Clairement contre Leurs super stitiojis et License extraordinaire d' auoir quantity de femmes, contre Leur nudity et Les insolences des iemies gens, sans que jamais personne n aye contredit, non pas m^me dans Leurs Cabanes et assemblies; ce qui est vne grace particuliere pour cette bourgade, ou Le peuple est Tnutin au dela de ce qiion se pourroit figurer. au Contraire ce Capitaine qui est Le phis infame pour La
1672-74] RELATION OF 1672-73 49
The 2^th. I returned, and adored The holy cross that we found on our Road, on issuing from the tvood.
February jrd, i6yj. Having learned that The outagami had returned from their Hunt earlier than in other years, on account of a saki having been killed by an outa- gami during The Hunt, I started once more to give a somewhat longer mission. The Road was difficult. We reached Their village 07i The 6th.
The evil spirit has directed his efforts Against these poor people. The outagami who had come from an Embassy to the Iroquois a fortnight before, had received bad impressions of Christianity, and had Communicated These to Their countrymen. Since The spring, The Nadoiiessi have taken or killed thirty persons, most of whom had prayed to God before going to war. I could barely find what I needed to make a Cabin for myself, and was obliged to seek shelter in an old Cabin that was open on all Sides; but %ve repaired it, to some extent.
The 8th. As I had my Cabin apart from the others, in order that all might Freely come and listen to The word of God, I erected a small Chapel therein. I performed all our duties in peace: I said holy mass every day, and I baptized with The rites of The Church. I inveighed Loudly against Their ^ superstitions, against their extraor- dinary License in having many wives, against Their exposing themselves naked, and against The insolence of the young men, — without any one ever contradicting me, even in Their Cabins and assemblies. This is a special grace for this village, where The people are self-willed beyond anything that can be imagitied. On the Contrary, the Captain — who is The most infamous, as regards The Multitude of his wives; and who, last winter, would not listen to me When I spoke to Him of his salvation — came after all those upbraidings, with his youngest wife and
50 LES RELATIONS DES J J^SUITES [Vol.58
Multitude des femnies qml a, et qui U hyuer pass^ ne m'ecouta pas, Lorsque ie Luy parlois de son salut est venu apres toutes ces ijiuectiues, aucc sa plus jeune femme et son Jils pour prier Dieu, et ma escout^ volontiers Lorsque ie V ay exhorti a sarr ester a cell[e] La et nen Chercher plus dautres.
Est ant alU voir nos malades qui itoient e?t meilleur ^tat, surtout ceux a qui f auois donne U extreme onction, ie Leur fis recojinoitre Leffcct de ce sacrement qui est de rendre La safitd aux malades, et en remercier Dieu.
Le g". des que V on sqeut que lestois Cahand separevient de mon hote plusieurs femmes apportent Leurs enfans malades pour receuoir Le baptdme et La santd, nous con- feriofis ce sacrement, et il a plil a Dieu en veue de La foy des parents Leur rendre La satiti, Car aucun de ceux La n^ est mort.
Le 10'. vne troupe de ieunes gens qui ont noircy Leur visage entre en notre Cabane sur Le soir, et dise?it qii'ils viennent dormir dans La CJiapelle, afin que Dieu Leur apparoisse, et Leur parle pendant Le sommeil, et Leur promette de Leur Liurer Leurs ennemys. c' est conforme- ntent L'erreur quils ont que Leurs genie s Leur par lent en dormant, ie Les desabusay Les fis prier Dieu et \ils'\ se retirerent Chez eux doucement.
Le II". Lis mapellent an conseil ou Les ambassadeurs venus de Chez Les Lroquois me rendirent Les Lcttrcs du R. P. Gar?iier, apres que ie Les eus Leu'es ils m,e demati- derent si Les affaires dtoient bonnes, ie rdpondis qiiouy Pourueu que Les Lroquois tinsent parole, quil y e7i auoit pourtant vne mauuaise a scauoir quils auoient trop parU etant Chds Les Lroquois, quils auoient dit auoir Chassd de Leur pays La robe noire, et qu'ils ne vouloietit plus auoir de Conwierce auec Les francois. Lis furent si surpris
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 -73 51
his son, to pray to God; and he listened to me willingly When I exhorted Him to be satisfied with that one, and not to Seek others.
I went to see our sick, who were in better condition, especially those to whom I had administered extreme unction. I made Them acknowledge The effect of that sacrament — which is to restore health to the sick — and thank God for it.
The gth. As soon as It was known that I occupied a Cabin apart from, my host, several wome?i brought Their sick children to receive baptism and health. We adminis- tered the sacrament , and God ivas pleased, on account of The faith of their parents, to restore Their health; for not one of them died.
The loth. A band of young meti who have blackened Their faces enter our Cabin in The evening, and say that they come to sleep in The Chapel so that God may appear and speak to Them in Their slumber, and promise to Deliver Their enemies to Them.. This is in accordance with Their erroneous belief that Their genii speak to Them in their sleep. I undeceived Them, and made Them pray to God, and they went Home quietly.
The nth. They sum.moned m.e to the council, where The ambassadors who came From The Iroquois handed me Reverend Father Gamier s Letters. When I had Read Them, they asked me whether matters were right. I replied that they were, provided The Iroquois kept their word; that there was, however, one thing wrong, and this was that they had talked too much while With The Iroquois, — that they had said that they had Driven The black gown away from. Their country, and zvould no longer have any Relations with The french. They were so surprised at such a deception that they remained for a Long time without uttering a word. Finally they cried
62 LES RELA TIONS DES jASUITES [Vol. 58
d'vne telle impost tire, quils detneurerent Long temps sans rien dire, enfiti ils s^crierent ce sent Les Iroquois qui ont forgd cela, ils tt'ayment pas Les fran(^ois, mais nous aymons La robe noire, nous tc prions de Continuer d'auoir soin de nous, d' itistruire nos enfans, et de nous aymer.
Le 12'. Les homnies marids Commencent a venir auec Leurs fenimes et enfajis pour prier Dieu. et Les j'eunes garqofis venus au Catechisme m assurent que tout Le monde agrde nos instructions et que Leurs parens Les exhortent a nous venir ^couter, cela a Continue
Nous voyo7is sur Le visage de quelques vns Le goust quils prennent ou La probation quils dofinent aux veritez que nozis Leur pr^chons notis en voyons d' autre s qui baillent et baissent La t^te sans pour cela nous oser Cofitredire: ils in ont demands seulement si Le Chemin que Leurs ames suiuoient apres Leur inort Hoit Le mime que celuy des notres surquoy nous Les auons eclarcis et ils ont acquiesce.
Le 20^. deux Cent guerriers passent deuant nStre Capelle sans qu aucun entre, quunde ceux La que fauois baptist quelques iours auparauant. ie in informay de ceux qui etoient a prier Dieu, pourquoy ils n entroient pas, ils me repondirent que La priere Les auoit fait mourir L eti passe. Dieu veut ipreuuer cette Eglise par Les tribula- tions; L" hyuer passd vne bande de j'eunes Outagami defirent onze Canots de Nadouessi, et attribuerent a La priere Leur victoire. Car ils etoient tons venus prier Dieu deuant que partir, Le raport qu ils fire nt du secours que Dieji Leur auoit donni affectionna Les autre s a prier Dieu, ils Le firent L eti passi et firent vne Croix sur Leurs bouclicrs, et de jp. quils etoient il y en eut 26. [so in orig. MS.; Shea makes it "16" — Ed.'\ de pris ou tuez, et d'vne autre bande \de'\ ij. il y en eut trois de pris ou tuez, cela n empiche pas qu aujourdliuy et desormais il n y ait toujours eu du monde qui vient pour sefaire instruire.
1672-74] RELA TION OF 1672 - 73 53
out: * ' // is The Iroquois who have invented that; they love not The french. But we love The black gown. We beg thee to Continue to take care of us, to instruct our children, and to love us.
The I2th. The married men are Begitining to co7ne, with Their wives and children, to pray to God; and The young boys who come to Catechism assure vie that every one is pleased with our instructions, and that Their parents exhort Them to come and listen to us. This has Continued.
We observe on The countenances of some of them how much they relish and how well they approve the truths that we preach to Them. We see others who yawn, and Jiang Their heads, — without, however, venturing to Contradict us. They merely asked me whether The Road that Their souls would follow after death would be The same as that follozved by ours. We enlightened TJiem on that point, and they acquiesced.
The 20th. Two Hundred warriors passed before our Chapel, but none entered it, except one of those zvliom I had baptized some days before. I asked those who favored prayer to God why they did not enter, and they replied that prayer had caused Them to die during The previous summer. God wills that this Church be tried by tribu- lations. Last winter, a band of young Outagami defeated eleveji Canoes of Nadouessi; and they attributed Their victory to prayer, For they had all come to pray to God before starting. Their account of the aid that God had given Them induced The others to pray to Him. They did So last summer, and marked a Cross on Their bucklers; but out of the ip that they numbered, 26 were captured or killed; while out of another band of ij, three were captured or killed. This does not now, nor will it ever in future, prevent some of the people from coming to be instructed.
64 LES RELATIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol.58
Le 21. Lcs anciens eiitrent en notre Cabane, Us ont des iddcs qui donnent de la Compassion, Le temps et La grace du s'. Esprit appriuoisera ces esprits vrayement sauuages, II est besoin d'vne gratide douceur et des motifs de douceur Comme ceux de la misericorde de Dieu et des recompenses du paradis et pour Changer ces esprits, Car quelques vns m'ont paru bar bares an dernier point, et Comme enrag^es resolus d'estre bruslez et mafigez de leiirs ennemis, ou de Les brusler \et'\ manger, Leurs ennemis apres Les auoir brusU Les decouperit Comme on fait vne beste ou vn poisso7i, pour Les fair e Cuire. il n y a que La loy d" amour qui puisse adoucir cette barbaric: cc seroit vne grande Charity de vioderer cette Cruaut^, Us souhaitteroient que ie my employ asse Comme autre fois a La point du sainct Esprit.
Le 22'. quelques saKi venus de la baye des puants apor- tent du rafroidissement a nos neophytes, Us Leurs disent qu il ny a que Les enfatis qui prieyit Dieu, quelques autres disent, comment prierons nous Dieu, il ne nous ayme pas, il n ayme que 7ios ennemis, puisqiiil nous Liure toujour s entre Leurs maitis, et ne nous en Liure quasi jamais aucun.
Le 2^. Les vieillards a L' occasion de quelque petite bande qui va de rechef en guerre entrent en notre Cabane et vie font plusieurs demandes, a toutes Lesquelles Dieu me fit La grace de Leur r^pondre, en sorte qii Us aduouerent atioir /// abusez iusques a present et que ie disois vray. Cest quils semblent reconnoitre Le des tin pour La guerre Us n attribuent pas La victoire a La force, ny au Courage de Leurs soldats ny a La bonne Cojiduite de leurs Capitaines, mais au destin ou manitou, qui donne a nia7iger d'vne nation a vne autre qtiand il Luy plait C est pour cela qitils ieunent esperant que ce manitou Leur parlera et se fera voir a eux La 7iuit et Letir dira ie te donne a inanger de tes ennemys, vas Les Chercher. c est pour cela quils
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 - 73 55
The 2ist. The elders ettter our Cabin; they have ideas that excite Compassion. Time, atid The grace of the holy Ghost, will tame these truly savage minds. Great gentle- ness and gentle arguments. Such as God's mercy and the rewards of paradise, are needed to Change these spirits; for some of them seemed to me to be barbarous to the last degree, — As if they were possessed by rage, a7id resolved to be burned and eaten by their enemies, or to burn and eat Them. Their enemies, after burning Them, cut Them into pieces. As we do an animal or a fish, to Cook Them. The law of love alone can soften such barbarism. It would be a great Charity to abate such Cruelty. They would like me to devote myself to it. As formerly, at The point of saint Esprit.
The 22nd. Some saki, who have come from the bay des puants, cause a certain coldness among our neophytes. They tell Them that only children pray to God. Others say: ^^ How can we pray to God? He docs not love us; he loves only our enemies, for he always Delivers us into Their hands, and hardly ever Delivers any of them into ours.''
The 2^th. As a small party was going again to war, the old 'men came into our Cabin, and put to me several questions; to These God gave me The grace of being able to reply, and they admitted that they had hitherto been deceived, and that I spoke the truth. They seem to acknowledge that war is governed by fate; they do not attribute The victory either to The strength or Bravery of Their soldiers, or to The Strategy of their Captains, — but to fate, or to the manitou, who gives 07ie tribe to be eaten by another when it pleases Him. That is why they fast, for they hope that the manitou will speak and shotu himself to them at night, and will say to Them: ' ' / give thee some of thy enemies to eat; go and Seek Them." That is why, they said, The Captain of one of those bands would
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disoient que Le Capitaine d'vne de ces bandes tuera in- failliblement des enucifiis parce que disent ils, Le manitou Luy parle, Je Lcnr cxpliqiiay qu'il tueroit des enneniys parcequil estoit vaillant Coiirageux et de bonne Conduit e &c.
Le 7. Mars, in etant apperqeu de quelque refroidisse- ment nouueau ie in apperceus que La Cause prouenoit de ce que Le tnalin esprit auoit renouuelU toutes Les anciennes menteries soit Centre Le Christianisme soit Centre nous Capables d'alietier V esprit des sauuages qii il auoit in- uent^ et sem^ a La pointe du sainct Esprit: mais auec La grace de Dieu Les fourbes du malin esprit sent decouuertes, et Le peuple est dcsabus^ et viejit a son ordinaire ?ious ^couter et fait a V exterieur tout ce qui est du deuoir du Chretien,
Le Ji^. ayant baptist Le matin vne fetnme grieuement vialade, i appris sur Le soir quelle se moicroit, ty allay elle etoit en effect en L" agonie, Les femnies selon Leur Coiltume La pleuroient, Cestoient quatre de scs tantes assises deux a ses pieds et deux a sa tete qui toutes epleur^es Chantoient Ltigubrement La niort de Leur fille ainsy qiiils L apelloictit, ie m approche de La niourante et L.eur dis que ie voulois parler, elles se teurent et eurent Le Loisir d'essuyer Leurs yeux pendant que ie Luy fis /aire Les actes de foy et autres pour La disposer a La jnort, et dis Les prieres de La recommendation de L'ame, puis elles recommencerent Leurs pleurs cependant ie priois Dieu assez Long temps; Les ayant fait taire ie fis Le mevie que j auois fait et La voyant auoir perdu Le iugement La nuit approchant ie me retiray elle mourut La nuit pe7i apres, J' espere que Dieu Luy aura fait misericorde.
Quelques iours apres Je baptisay quelques ieunes files que f auois dispos^es Leur apprenant Le Catechisme et Les prieres; il y en auoit beaucoup qui etoit a demy dispose e
1 672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 - 73 57
infallibly kill some foes, — because, they said, The manitou speaks to Him. I explained to Them that he would kill some enemies because he was valiant, Brave, a good Leader, etc.
March jth. Having observed some further coldness, I found that it was Due to the fact that The evil spirit had repeated all The old falsehoods, — either Against Chris- tianity, or Against us, — of a Nature to alienate The minds of the savages, which he had invented and spread at The point of saint Esprit. But, with The grace of God, The deceptions of the evil spirit are discovered; The people are disabused, and come as usual to listen to us, and outwardly perform everything connected with a Christian s duty.
The nth. After baptizing in The morning a woman who was grievously ill, I heard in The evening that she was dying. I proceeded thither, and she was, in fact, in The death-agony. The zvomen wept for Her, according to Their Custom. They were four of Jier aunts, who sat two at her feet and two at her head, — and who, bathed in tears. Sang Liigtibriously of The death of Their daughter, for so they called Her. I drew near The dying woman, and told Them that I wished to speak. They became silent, and had Leisure to dry Their eyes while I made Her say acts of faith and other acts to prepare Her for death, and while I said The prayers of The recommendation- of The soul. They then renewed Their weeping, while T prayed to God for Some time. I bade them be silent, and' did The same as I had already done. When I saw that She had lost consciousness, and that night was approaching^ I withdrew. She died That night, shortly afterzvard. I trust that God has had mercy on Her.
Some days afterward, I baptized some young girls, whomi had prepared by teaching Them The Catechism
58 LES RELATIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol. 08
mats Lors qu Us tHoient dans La plus grande ferueur et qu Us commen^oient a s^auoir quclque Chose, vne forte geUe surucnant apres vne pliiye fit vne Croute de glace sur La nege ce qui est rare en ce pays rendU La Chasse du CheurueU et du Cerf fort ais^e, en sorte que c estoit Les ieu7ies gar^ons qui Les tuoient et Les filles qui preparoient ou portoicnt aux Cabanes Les testes tu^es, en sorte que ie ne pouuois Les auoir a La Chapelle qu' en passant et rare- ntent; il ny en a eu que quatre que t aye baptist, qui scauent Le Pater L'aue Le Credo, et Le Catechisme; niais I ay cette Consolation que La pluspart de La bourgade est instruite du Catechisme et des ■)nysteres de nostre sainte foy et des prieres de U Eglise, aussy des Le matin Jusques au soir ie ne m' occupe a autre Chose tout Le iour qua cela; et t ay mon esprit satisfait sur ce poifit qu Us sont persuades que ie ne Les vay pas voir pour autre Chose que pour Leur aprendre Le Chemin du Ciel.
Le dernier d'Atiril ie partis pour La mission de sainct Jacques des machKoutench, nous y arriudmes Le quatriesme may. et Le Lendemain en passant auec tous Les franqois qui etoient auec moy, nous adordmes La croix que nous y anions plant ^e Uetd pass^, et men allay droict selon La Coutume de ces peuples a La Cabane, de L" ancient Capitaine des fnacJL\Jz\outench mort depuis pen pour Luy faire vn petit present et consoler ainsy toute La famille Le Lende- main.
Le 5' . Je me Cabanay a La croix comme U ann^e pass^e. il n est pas besoin d' ape Her Les sauuages a venir prier Dieu, Us y vie?inent ass/s d'eux m^me, ce qui a con- tinue tout Le temps que t y ay ^te', en sorte que nos nates de Jong qui font 7iostre Chapelle ont esti bientot rompues, quelques autres seulement perches, bien que ie Les fisse prier Dieu dehors Lorsqu'ils ne pouuoient pas tenir dedans nous
1672-74] RELATION OF J672-7S 59
and The prayers. There ivere many who were half- prepared; but, When they were most fervent and were beginning to know Something, a heavy frost coming after rain caused an icy Crust to form, upon The snow, which is a rare thing in this country. This made it very easy to Hunt Deer and Elk, so that The young men killed Them, while The girls dressed The slaughtered animals, or carried them to the Cabins. Thus I cojild get Them to come to The Chapel only in passing, and but seldom. I baptized only four, who knew The Pater, The ave, The Credo, and The Catechism; but I have this Consolation, that the majority of The village have been instructed in the Catechism, and in the mysteries of our holy faith and the prayers of The Church. In fact, from morning To night I do Nothing else all day long; and my mind is satisfied on this point, that they are convinced that I go to see Them for no other Purpose than to teach The^n The Road to Heaven.
On the last day of April, I left for The mission of saint Jacques, among the machkoutench. We arrived there on The fourth of may; and on The following Day, while passing by, with all The french who accompanied me, we adored The cross that we had planted there The previous summer. In accordance with The Custom of these nations, I went on The following Day straight to The Cabin of The former Captain of the machkoutench, who had died a short time previously, to give for Him a little present, and thus console The whole family.
The 5th. I erected my Cabin at The cross, as I did last year. It was not necessary to call The savages to come to pray to God; They came quite readily, of their own accord. This continued during The whole time while 1 was there, so that our rush mats, of which our Chapel is built, were soon broken, while some others were merely
60 LES RELATIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol.58
}' auons continue toutes nos fonctions paisiblement comme L' et^ pass^ dit La saincte incsse tons Les tours instruit contuiuellement vne bandc a La Chapellc pleinc et puis L' autre, enseigtie Lc CatecJiinic et Lcs prieres a tout Le tnonde mats sur tout aux petits garqons et petites filles en sorte qu'ils Les scauent a demy, baptist Les enfans que Les parens nous y apportoient pour cela, Le plus souuent malades voyant par experience que Lcs enfans baptiscz guerissoieni pour La pluspart.
Nous y auons visite Leurs malades, vne femme dcs inachKoutench grieuement malade que ie visitois pour La disposer au baptdme apres L auoir faict pricr Dieu chez elle, se trouua guerie Le Lendemain.
Vne autre de rtiime nation mere d'vn de Jios Chretiens emmen^e a La Chapelle par son fils pour prier Dieu ne pouuant plus venir, ie L' allay voir, L instruire et disposer au bapthne, elle neut pas de peine, car apres m,' auoir e scouts, elle fne dit baptise moy done a fin que f aille au del, ce que ie fis, et mourut peu apres pour viure au Ciel comme ie croy
vne autre personne de La nation des miami a receu La grace du bapt^me mayant parue tres bien dispos^e en vn danger prochaine ou ie La trouuay de mourir, et il a plU a Dieu Luy rendre La sante Le soir mdme que ie retournay La voir apres son bapteine, du moins quand ie partis elle se portoit bien. ie n eus pas de peine a La disposer au bapt^me et a La mort, Car d'abord elle Concent Le desir qiiilfaut de La vie eternelle, Communement Les malades sauuages ne so?igent ny ne demandent que La vie du Corps.
Comtne cette nation des miami est fort nombreuse il y en a vne par tie qui n aprotiue pas ce que nous Leur pr^chons; U autre partie fait profession de croire et d'obeir a La robe noire et dit mhne dans Leurs assembUes que ceux qui
1 672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 - 7j 61
pierced through, — although I made Them pray outside, When they could not all get inside. We continued to perform our duties in peace as last year: we said holy mass every day; we instructed, without cessation, bands that successively filled The Chapel; we taught The Catechism and prayers to all, but especially the little boys and girls, so that they half knew Them. We baptized The children whom The parents brought to us for that purpose, and who in Most instances were ill, — for they found by experience that most of The children who were baptized recovered.
We visited Their sick. A woman of the machkoutench, who was grievously ill, and whom I visited to prepare Her for baptism,, after I had made Her pray to God in her own house, was cured on The following Day.
Another woman of the same tribe, the mother of one of our Christians, was brought to The Chapel by her son to pray to God, because she could no longer come by herself. I went to see Her, to itistruct Her and prepare Her for baptism. She had no trouble; for, after listening to me, she said: " Baptize me, so that I may go to Heaven." I did so, and she died shortly afterward, — to live in Heaven, as I believe.
Another person, of The miami tribe, received The grace of baptism, — for she seemed to me to be very well disposed when I found Her in immediate danger of death; and God was pleased to restore Her to health The very evening when I went back to see Her after her baptism. At least, she was well when I left. I had no trouble in preparing Her for baptism and for death. For, at the very first, she Conceived The proper desire for eternal life. As a rule. The sick savages do not think of it, and ask only for The life of the Body.
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7ie Luy obeissent pas sont malheureux. Dieii par vne prouidence particuliere sur cette Eglise naissatite Luy a donn^ sa benediction: Car tous ceux qui ayment Le Christ ianisvie nont point souffert La faim de tout cet hyuer, au Lieu que Les autres out soufert vne si grande famine qji'il y en a qui en so?it morts, tous generalement ont ma?ig/ L.eurs Chiens et Les peaux des bestes quils auoient tudes L'automne, et ont /// obliges de se retirer a Leur bourg de bonne heure et auec bien de La peine, cette nation ne sqait point marcher en raquette c est pour cela qu'elle a beaucoup souffert en ces quar tiers ou il y a cu quantity de neige extraordinairetnent . inais Dieu par vne protection particuliere a fourny toujours dequoy viure a ceux qui Luy veulent obeir.
Les monies miami ont quitte Les ma?iitous quils inuo- quoient pour Leur guerre Chasse &c. ils n' inuoquent que celuy, qui a fait Le Ciel et La terrc, en effect ces iours passez allants en guerre ils ont pendu a La croix qui est a Leur bourg vne peau blanche pour inuoquer ainsy quils inont dit, Le Dieu des armies qui a fait Les homvtes et Le Ciel et La terre.
J' ay visits vne bonne partie des miami, ils ont de grandcs Cabafies de grosses escorce, ou ie Les ay fait prier Dieu, tout Le monde a getioux iusques a ce que ie m'en- rhumay soit La, soil dans nostre Chapelle toute entrouuerte si bien que ie ne pouuois presque plus parler, ie m'en allay Le 22^ .
Je passay par Les out agami pour y voir nos malades qui continuent dans L exercice de la patience Chrdtienne, ils admirent Comme ils ne meurent pas et reconnoissent que c est La priere qui Les fait viure ay ant demands a Uvn de ceux La ou etoit Le Chapelet que ie Luy auois tnis au Col apres so?i bapte'me, il me rdpondit que ie Luy auois mis
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 -yj 63
As this tribe of the mianii is very numerous, a portion of them do not approve what we preach to Them; The other portion profess to believe and to obey The black gown, and they even say ifi Their assemblies that they who obey Him not are unhappy. God has, through a special provi- dence over this nascent ChiircJi, given It his blessing; For all those who love Christianity have not suffered frotn hunger throughout the winter, While The others have endured such famine that sotne have died. As a rule, all of them ate Their Dogs, and The skins of the animals that they had killed in The autumn; and were compelled to return to Their village early, and with great difficulty. This tribe do not know how to walk on snow shoes; for that reason, they have greatly suffered in this quarter, where there was an extraordinary quantity of snow. But God, by a special protection, has always provided food for those who choose to obey Him.
The same miami have given up The manitous whom, they ifivoked for Their war, their Hunting, etc.; they invoke him alone who has made Heaven and earth. In fact, quite recently, when they went to war, they hung up a white skin on The cross in Their village, — to invoke, as they told me. The God of armies, who has made men and Heaven and earth.
I visited a considerable portion of the miami. They have large Cabins, made of great pieces of bark, wherein I made Them pray to God, all on their knees, until I caught such a cold — either There or in our Chapel, which was quite open — that I could hardly speak. I went away on The 22nd.
I passed throiigJi The outagami, to see our sick people there, who continue to practice Christian patience. They wonder That they die not, and achwwledge that prayer makes Them live. I asked one of them where The Rosary
64 LES RELATIONS DESJ^SUITES [Vol.68
son fils Lauoit encore, qu il auoit et^ nialade ces tours passez et quil Luy donna son Chapelet pour Le guerir, et que d" abord qu il Le Luy eut attache au Col, il fut gueri.
Cest Tout ce que Le Pere Claude allouez mande de sa mission qui n a de homes que celles que son Zele y veut mettre; dccouurant et instruisant toujours de nouuelles tiations; petidant que d'vn c6t^ Le P. Marquette en est alU decouurir de plus eloigndcs iusqucl La mer du sud, et que d'vn autre Le P. Charles Albanel est parti vne seconde fois pour aller Chercher celles qu il auoit dej'a decouuertes a La mer du Nord; ainsy Le midy et Le septentrion cntendront parler de Leur Createur, et U euangile va s' etendre aux deux extremitiz de cette A meriqiie ou La grande nuiltitude des peuples ne manquera d' instruction que faute de personnes qui passent Les mer s pour Les venir instruire.
[Apres auoir suflBsamment Instruit toute Cette Bourgade, Je fus contraint de la laisser, estant apele pour d'autres qui m'attendoient en partie dans la baye Des puans, et en partie a la Nation du feu ; Je n'y pus done retoumer que trois mois apres et a naon arriuee, Je trouuay que Le malin esprit auoit fait tons ses efforts pour miner ce que J'auois heureusem^ Commence pour Le salut de ce pauure peuple.
II s'estoit seruy de la victoire que Les Nadouessi Leurs ennemis auoient remportee sur eux, en ayant pris ou tu6 vne trentaine, qui pour la plus part auoient pri6 Dieu auant que de se mettre en Campagne.
II est bien vray que L'annee precedente vne bande De Jeunes Outagami deffirent onze Canots ennemis et attribuerent cet heureux succes a la priere qu'ils auoient faite dans la Chapel le, auant que De partir
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672- 73 65
was that I had placed around His Neck after his baptism. He replied that I had placed it on Him, and that his son had It still; that the latter had been ill for the past few days; that he had give 7i Him his Rosary to cure Him; and that, as soon as he had fastened It aro7ind His Neck, he had recovered.
This is All that Father Claude allouez zvrites of his mission. It has no other bounds than those assigned to it by his Zeal, which is ever discovering and teaching new nations. Meanwhile, on the one hand. Father Marquette has gone to discover other more remote tribes, as far as The south sea; and, on the other. Father Charles Albanel has departed a second time to Seek those whom he had already discovered at the North sea. Thus The south and The north will hear of Their Creator, and The gospel will spread to the two extremities of this America, — where The great multitude of stations will lack instruction solely through dearth of persons who cross The seas to come to teach Them.
[After having sufficiently Instructed the whole of This Village, I was compelled to leave it; for I was called away to others who awaited me, — partly in the bay Des puans, and partly in the Nation of fire. I was therefore unable to return there for three months; and, on my arrival, I found that The evil spirit had made every effort to ruin what I had happily Commenced for The salvation of these poor people.
He had made use of the victory won over them by The Nadouessi, Their enemies, who had captured or killed about thirty of them, most of whom had prayed to God before taking the Field.
It is quite true that, during The previous year, a
66 LES RELA TIONS DES j£SUITES [Vol. 58
pour Cette expedition, Mais vne autre bande qui auoit aussy prie Dieu a L'exemple de la premiere et qui mesme auoit peint la Croix sur Leurs boucliers ayant est^ defaite, Cela donna sujet aux bruits qui Coururent parmy Le peuple, qui disoit partout que Dieu n'ayme pas Ceux qui prient, mais bien Ceux qui ne prient pas, auxquels II donne de si grands aduantages
Adjout^s a Cela, que la barbarie est encor Icy en son regne, et que nos Outagami sont bien resolus de ne pas traitter plus humainement Les Nadoiiessi, qui en sont traittes ; Leur Cruaut6 est telle, qu'apr^s auoir brusle Leur Captifs selon la Coustume generale du pais, lis Les decouppent comme on fait vn orignal ou vn esturgeon, et Les mettent Cuire par morceaux Dans la Chaudiere, pour Les manger, Comme ils Mangeroient vne autre viande.
Le malin esprit s'est Done seruy des victoires que L Ennemy a remport^s pour detruire la priere, et en mesme temps a renouuel6 Les vieilles querelles et toutes les Impostures qui ont autrefois est6 debit6es Contre la foy, et Contre nous.
Toutes Ces Choses auoient tellement altere Les esprits que J'eus de la peine a trouuer ou me loger, et Je fus oblige de me retirer en vne vieille Cabanne ouuert a tous Les vents; J'y dressay vne petite Cha- pelle, pour y attendre auec patience Les desseins que Dieu a sur Cette nouuelle Eglise, qu'il veut sans Doubte esprouuer par les tribulations, et qui ne me Donne pas peu d'esperance De La voir vn Jour bien florissante.
Comme de fait, Je fus bientost Console par L'afflu- ence de Ceux qui venoient Incessamm^ pour m'es-
1672-74] RELATION OF 1672-73 67
band Of Young Ontagami defeated eleven of the enemy's Canoes, and attributed this happy result to the prayer that they had said in the Chapel before starting on That expedition. But another band, who had likewise prayed to God after The example of the former, and who had even painted the Cross on Their bucklers, were defeated. This gave rise to rumors which Spread among The people — who said everywhere that God loves not Those who pray, but Those who pray not, and that to the latter He gives such great advantages.
Add to This that barbarism still reigns Here, and that our Outagami are fully resolved not to treat The Nadouessi more humanely than they are treated by them. Their Cruelty is such that, after burning Their Captives, according to the general Custom of the country, They cut Them up, as one does a moose or a sturgeon, and put the pieces In a Kettle to Cook, that they may eat Them As one would Eat any other meat.
The evil spirit, Therefore, made use of the vic- tories obtained by The Enemy to ruin prayer ; and, at the same time, he renewed The old quarrels, and all the Impostures that were formerly alleged Against the faith and Against us.
All These Things had so changed Their minds that I had great difficulty in finding a place wherein I might lodge ; and I was compelled to take refuge in an old Cabin, open to all The winds, I erected a small Chapel there, to await with patience The designs that God has for This new Church, which he Doubtless wishes to try by tribulations, but which Gives me no slight hope That I will some Day see It very flourishing.
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couter. Nonobstant toutes Ces broiiilleries que Le Demon auoit suscitees, Je n'inuectiuay Jamais plus fortement Contre Les superstitions, et Contre Les autres desordres Du pais, Jusqu'a ce qu'enfin tous Ces nuages, estant dissip^s, Le Cours de L'Euangile reprit son train ordinaire, faisant Dans ma petite Chapelle toutes nos fonctions auec bien de la paix, et y baptisant auec Les Ceremonies de L'Eglise Ceux qui Le meritoient.
J'allois aussy auec La mesme Libert^ dans Les Cabannes pour y expliquer nos Mysteres, Dans vne des quelles ayant baptise vne femme bien malade, J'appris sur Le soir de ce mesme Jour, qu'elle s'en alloit mourir, J'y retournay promptement, et Je trou- uay qu'en effet elle estoit a L'agonie. Les femmes selon La Coustume Du pais, la pleuroient. Voicy qu'elle est Cette Coustume: quatre femmes des plus proches parentes estoit assises Deux aux pieds, de la Malade, et deux a la teste, et toutes decheuell6es qu'elles estoient, et baignees de Larmes, Chantoient Lugubrem^, et Deploroient la mort de Leur fiUe, ainsy L'appelloient-elles, ces Larmes, et Ces Cries Durent Jusqu'a ce que La malade ait rendu L'ame. Je m'approchay Done, et Leur dis que Je voulois parler, elles firent silence, et se mirent a essuyer Leurs yeux pendant que Je fis faire a la moribonde Les actes necessaires pour se bien Disposer a la Mort, Je Dis tout a loisir Les prieres et la recommandation de L'ame, apres Les quelles elles recommencerent Leurs pleurs, que Je fis encor Cesser pour assister ma malade, et Luy faire renouueler Les actes qu'elle auoit faits Jusqu'a ce que voyant qu'elle auoit perdu le Jugem*. et La nuit me pressant, Je me retiray
1672-74] RELATION OF j672 -73 69
In fact, I was soon Comforted by The throng of People who came Continually to listen to me. Not- withstanding all These troubles, which The Devil had stirred up, Never did I inveigh more strenuously Against The superstitions and other disorders Of the country, — Until at last These clouds were dispelled; The Spread of The Gospel resumed its usual course, and In my little Chapel we performed all our duties in great peace, and administered baptism with The Rites of The Church to Those who deserved It.
I also went with The same Freedom into The Cabins, to explain our Mysteries. In one of them, I baptized a woman who was very ill, I heard in The evening of the same Day that she was about to die; I returned promptly, and found her, in fact, in The death-agony. The women wept for her, accord- ing to The Custom Of the country. This Custom is as follows : four women from among her nearest rela- tives sat Two at the feet of the Sick woman and two at her head, all dishevelled and bathed in Tears ; they Sang Lugubriously, and Deplored the death of Their daughter, for so they called Her. These Tears and Cries Last Until The sick person expires. I There- fore approached, and told Them that I wished to speak. They became silent, and dried Their eyes, while I made the dying woman say The necessary acts to Prepare herself properly for Death. I slowly Said The prayers, as well as the recommendation of The soul, after Which they recommenced Their weeping. But I once more made them Cease it, in order to assist our sick woman, and to make Her renew The acts that she had made. Finally, seeing that she had lost Consciousness, and that night was overtaking me, I withdrew, that I might Continue
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pour Continiier a prier Dieu pour elle plus paisiblem*. elle mourut cette mesme nuit, et Jay suiet de Croire que Dieu Luy a fait misericorde.
Les autres malades Continiient dans L'exercice De la patience Chrestienne; plusieurs s'estonnent De ce qu'ils ne meurent pas, et reconnoissent que C'est La priere que Les fait viure.
Comme Je demanday a vn D'eux ou estoit Le Chapelet que Je Luy auois mis au Col apres son baptesme, II me respondit que son fils L'auoit encor, qu'il auoit este malade Ces Jours passes, et que pour Le guerir II Luy donna son Chapelet, etde fait, qu'il ne Luy eust pas plustost attache au Col, que la sant^ Luy fut rendiie.
Auant que de quitter Cette bourgade, pour aller faire mes Courses aux autres, Je baptisay quelques Jeunes filles, que J 'auois disposees, et a qui J 'auois appris Le Catechisme et Les prieres.
Et Jay Cette Consolation que tout ce bourg est Instruit de nos Mysteres, Du Catechisme et des prieres, aussy Des le Matin Jusqu'au soir, Je ne m'occupe a autre Chose pendant tout Le Jour, qu'a Cela, et J 'ay mon esprit satisfait sur ce point, qu'ils sont persuades, que Je ne Les vay pas voir pour autre Chose q^* pour Leur apprendre Le Chemin Du Ciel.
Voila vne partie de Ce que Le P. Claude AUoiies Mande de sa Mission, qui n'a de bornes que Celles que son Zele y veut mettre, decouurant et Instruisant tousiours de nouuelles Nations, pendant que D'vn Cost6 Le P. Marquette en est all^ decouurir de plus eloignees, Jusqu'a la Mer Du Sud, et que D'vn autre
1 672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 -73 71
to pray to God for her in greater quiet. She died the same night, and I have reason to Believe that God had mercy upon Her,
The other sick persons Continue to practice Chris- tian patience. Many are astonished That they die not. and acknowledge that It is prayer that makes Them live.
When I asked one Of them where The Rosary was that I had placed around His Neck after his baptism, He replied that his son had It still ; that the latter had been ill during The past few Days; and, to cure Him, He had given Him his Rosary; and that, in fact, he had no sooner tied it round His Neck than His health was restored.
Before leaving This village, to make my Visits to the others, I baptized some Young girls whom I had prepared, and to whom I had taught The Catechism and The prayers.
And I have This Consolation, that the whole of this village has been Instructed in our Mysteries, in The Catechism, and in the prayers. In fact, From Morning Until night I do Nothing else all Day long but That; and my mind is satisfied on this point, that they are convinced that I go to see Them for no other Purpose than to show Them The Road To Heaven.
This is a portion of What Father Claude AUoues Writes of his Mission. It has no other bounds than Those assigned to it by his Zeal, which is ever discov- ering and Teaching new Nations ; while, on The one Hand, Father Marquette has gone to discover other more remote tribes as Far as the South Sea, and. On the other, Father Albanel has departed a second time
72 LES RELATIONS DES J&SUITES [Vol.58
Le P. Albanel est party vne seconde fois pour aller Chercher Celles qu'il auoit desia decouuertes a la Mer du Nord. Ainsy Le Midy et le septentrion entendront parler De Leur Createur, et L'Euangile va s'estendre aux Deux extremit6s de Cette Ame- rique, Ou la grande multitude des peuples ne man- quera d' instruction q5> faute de personnes qui passent Les mers pour Les venir Instruire.]
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 - 73 73
to Seek Those whom he had already discovered at the North Sea. Thus The South and the north will hear Of Their Creator, and The Gospel will spread to the Two extremities of This America, — Where the great multitude of nations will lack instruction solely through dearth of persons who cross The seas to come to Instruct Them.]
74 LES RELA TIONS DES j£SUITES [Vol. 68
Mission de Saint-Frangois-Xavier des Pres pres de Montreal pendant les annees 1672 et 1673.
DIEU semble avoir permis, pour 6tendre en ce nouveau monde le royaume de son ^fivangile, que les Iroquois portassent la guerre dans des pays qu'on croyait inaccessibles aux hummes, et ^ des nations qui n'etaient pas connues des Europ6ens. lis en ont ramene une multitude de captifs; et ce sont ces captifs, et les Iroquois, leurs vainqueurs, qui viennent eux-memes habiter ici avec leur proie, afin de devenir tous ensemble de fervents Chretiens : Habitabit lupus cum agno.
En voyant ces nouveaux fideles rassembl^s, des I'automne pass6, dans le bercail de J^sus-Christ, c'^tait chose bien agreable pour nous de compter, dans une seule Mission naissante, jusqu'^ vingt-deux nations, dont plusieurs ont des langues entierement differentes, et les autres different seulement par leurs idiomes. On y trouvait meles ensemble des Outoua- gannha, des Gentagega, des Algonquins Montagnais, des Nipissiriniens, des Hurons, des Iroquois, des Loups, Mahingans ou Socokis, et autres nations non moins oppos^es entre elles par de longues inimiti^s que par la diversite du langage.
Cette Mission a commence, il y a environ quatre ans, par la reunion en ce lieu de quelques families Iroquoises. Ces Sauvages, ayant entendu parler de ri^vangile par ceux de nos Pferes qui sont en leurs
1672-74] RELATION OF 1672-73 75
Mission of Saint Francois Xavier des Pres, near Montreal, during the years 1672 and 1673.
GOD seems to have permitted, for the spread of the kingdom of his Gospel in this new world, that the Iroquois should carry war into coun- tries that were deemed inaccessible to men, and among nations unknown to Europeans. They brought back thence a multitude of captives; and now these captives and the Iroquois, their conquer- ors,— who themselves come to dwell here with their victims, — unite, that they may all together become fervent Christians.^ Habitabit lupus cum agno.
On seeing these new believers gathered last au- tumn in the fold of Jesus Christ, it was very pleasant for us to count in a single nascent Mission as many as twenty-two nations, several of whom speak entirely different tongues, while the others differ only in their idioms. These were seen, mingled together; Outouagannha, Gentagega, Montagnais Algonquins, Nipissiriniens, Hurons, Iroquois, Loups, Mahingans or Socokis, and other nations, no less opposed to one another through ancient feuds than through diversity of language.
This Mission began, about four years ago, by the gathering in this place of some Iroquois families. These Savages had heard of the Gospel from those of our Fathers who are in their country, and at once resolved to embrace it. But, seeing that the
76 LES RELA TIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol. 58
pays, prirent aussitot resolution de I'embrasser. Mais, voyant trop de difficult^ k ex^cuter leur des- sein, s'ils restaient dans leur patrie, ou I'idolatrie et le vice r^gnent avec un empire abwSolu, ils se d6ter~ minferent ^ la quitter pour venir demeurer avec ceux qui les assuraient d'une 6ternit6 bienheureuse, s'ils voulaient vivre en bons chretiens.
Ils ne furent pas plus tot arrives qu'ils firent bien voir que Dieu a des ^lus par toute la terre habitable, puisque d^s lors on put les comparer aux chretiens de la primitive ^glise. Quelque temps apres, d'autres Iroquois, venus pour les visiter, furent si touches de leurs bons exemples, qu'ils resolurent de rester avec eux, et de les imiter en tout.
Bientot, le bruit s'etant r^pandu par toutes les nations iroquoises qu'un nouveau bourg de leurs compatriotes se formait k la prairie de la Magdeleine, et que tous ceux qui s'y retiraient n'avaient d'autre dessein que de se faire chr6tiens, plusieurs de ces Sauvages touches de la grace de Dieu, y vinrent aussi afin d'y mener le meme genre de vie.
La multitude augmentant chaque jour, on fut bien- tot oblige de proc^der h. la creation de capitaines pour le gouvernement du bourg, et particulierement pour la conservation de la Foi. Les nouveaux capi- taines assemblerent aussitot tout leur monde pour de- clarer publiquement qu'on n'admettrait dans le bourg personne qui ne fut dans la resolution de s'abstenir de trois choses qui sont: I'idolatrie du songe, le changement de femme et I'ivrognerie. II fut done arret6 que personne ne demeurerait parmi eux qu'il n'eiit fait auparavant protestation publique de renon- cer k ces abominations, et que si quelqu'un venait k y retomber, il serait chass6 honteusement.
1672 - 74] J^ELA TION OF 1672 -73 77
execution of their design would be too difficult if they remained in their own country, where idolatry and vice reign with absolute sway, they determined to abandon it, and come to dwell with those who assured them of eternal happiness if they chose to live as good Christians.
No sooner had they arrived than they clearly showed that God has his chosen ones throughout the habitable earth ; for, at the very outset, they might have been compared to the Christians of the primitive church. Some time afterward, other Iroquois who came to visit them were so moved by their good example that they resolved to remain with them, and to imitate them in everything.
Soon the rumor spread through all the Iroquois nations that a new village of their countrymen was being formed at la prairie de la Magdeleine, and that all who retired thither had no other intention than that of becoming Christians ; and many of those Savages, touched by God's grace, came here also, in order to lead the same kind of life.
As their numbers increased daily, it was soon found necessary to appoint captains to govern the village, and especially for the preservation of the Faith. The new captains at once assembled all their people, to declare publicly that no one would be admitted into the village who was not resolved to abstain from three things, namely: the idolatry of dreams, the changing of wives, and drunkenness. It was therefore enacted that no one should dwell among them, unless he first publicly declared that he renounced those abominations; and that, if any one relapsed into them, he should be shamefully expelled.
78 LES RELATIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol.58
Tout ceci s'dtant fait publiqusment, fut bientot su de toutes les nations qui abordent de tous c6t6s vers ces quartiers, tellement qu'aucun Sauvage ne vient demeurer ici, pas meme en passant pour deux ou trois mois, qu'il ne s'oblige h. suivre les lois qui regissent la nouvelle bourgade,
Ce fondement solide ainsi 6tabli, on n'a pas eu beaucoup de peine h. introduire parmi les nouveaux venus la pratique des vertus et la devotion fervente qui sont I'apanage ordinaire de toutes les Eglises naissantes. C'est une chose fort rare qu'un Sauvage de cette Mission n'assiste pas k la messe tous les jours ouvriers, et ^ la priere publique le soir. Plu- sieurs meme entendent les deux messes qui s'y disent, et si quelqu'un, pour quelque empechement raisonnable, n'a pu y assister, aussitot que cet em- pechement cesse, il vient faire ses prieres devant le Saint-Sacrement ; et, s'il y manquait, il s'en confes- serait comme d'une grande faute des le dimanche suivant; car la coutume des plus fervents est de se confesser tous les dimanches; pour les moins fer- vents, ils le font tous les mois. Les communions sont r^glees par le missionnaire selon la piet6 de chacun. Le dimanche, outre la messe ordinaire, ils assistent tous k la grand' messe des Fran9ais et au salut du Saint-Sacrement, qui se dit apres vepres, auquel ils ont tant de devotion, que tres-peu passent devant la chapelle sans y entrer pour 1' adorer et y faire quelques prieres. Enfin les dimanches et jours ouvriers se terminent, avant que de se coucher, par une priere publique qui se fait tout haut dans chaque cabane. On y ajoute ordinairement, aussi bien que dans la chapelle, quelques cantiques spirituels, avec
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 - -js 70
As all this was done publicly, it soon became known to all the nations who resort from all direc- tions to this quarter, — to such an extent that no Savage comes to live here, even temporarily for two or three months, without binding himself to observe the laws governing the new village.
This solid foundation being thus laid, but little trouble was experienced in introducing among the new-comers the practice of virtue and fervent devo- tion, which are the usual appanage of all nascent Churches. It is a very rare thing for a Savage of this Mission not to assist at mass on all the working- days, and at the public prayers in the evening. Many even hear the two masses that are said in it ; and, if any one is prevented by any reasonable obstacle from assisting at them, he comes, as soon as the obstacle is removed, to say his prayers before the Blessed Sacrament. Moreover, should he fail to do so, he confesses it as a great sin, on the very next Sunday; for the most fervent are in the habit of going to confession every Sunday, while the less fervent do so every month. Communions are regulated by the missionary, according to each one's piety. On Sunday, in addition to the ordinary mass, they all assist at the high mass said for the French, and at the benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, which occurs after vespers. Such is their devotion for the Sacrament that very few pass the chapel with- out entering to adore it and recite some prayers. Finally, both Sundays and working-days are con- cluded, before the Savages retire to bed, with public prayers, which are said aloud in each cabin. As a rule some hymns are also sung there, as well as in the chapel, with such agreeable harmony that the French
80 LES RELA TIONS DES j£SUITES [Vol. 58
tine harmonie si agr6able, que les Fran^ais qui les entendent, disent qu'ils n'ont rien entendu de sem- blable en Europe.
L'hospitalit6 est une vertu morale, qui est fort commune parmi les Sauvages infideles de ces contr^es ; mais, quand cette vertu est accompagnee de la grace, elle produit des effets admirables. Les Sauvages de la Prairie avaient des provisions de ble pour deux ans ; mais plus de huit cents de leurs compagnons, ayant aborde et s€journ6 en divers temps chez eux, tout a €t€ consomme pour les bien recevoir. Pre- nant de Ik 1' occasion de les instruire des v^rit^s de notre Foi, ils ont touchy les coeurs de plusieurs, qui se sont fix6s ici pour toujours; d'autres ont dit, en s'en allant, qu'ils reviendraient I'an prochain pour partager leur habitation et leur repos. lis ont meme ajout6, que si Ton faisait quelque present aux anciens d'Agni^, il 6tait vraisemblable que toute la nation viendrait se ranger ici sous les lois de I'Evangile.
C'est une chose fort rare chez les Sauvages de contredire ceux qui leur parlent; et, quand on les instmit, ils approuvent tout. Cela donne beaucoup de peine aux missionnaires pour distinguer ceux qui veulent croire sincerement. Les naturels de ce pays ont ordinairement beaucoup de respect humain, et n'oseraient faire profession publique de la reli- gion quand ils sont avec les infideles. Mais les Sauvages de la Prairie ont surmonte cet obstacle des les commencements. lis font gloire d'etre Chretiens, et en font profession si publique, que personne n'ose venir demeurer parmi eux s'il n'est r^solu tout de bon k embrasser la Foi, persuade qu'on Ten chas- serait bientot s'il n'etait tout k fait dispose k vivre
1672-74] RELATION OF 1672-73 81
who hear them say that they have never heard anything like it in Europe.
Hospitality is a moral virtue very common among the infidel Savages of this country ; but when this virtue is accompanied by grace, it produces admirable results. The Savages of la Prairie had a provision of corn for two years; but, as over eight hundred of their countrymen have come at various times to sojourn among them, all has been consumed in giving the strangers a warm reception. Seizing the oppor- tunity thereby afforded for instructing them in the truths of our Faith, they touched the hearts of many, who have settled here permanently. Others said, on going away, that they would return the following year to share their abode and their peace. They even added that, if a present were given to the elders of Agni6, it was quite probable that the whole nation would come here to range itself under the laws of the Gospel.
The Savages very seldom contradict those who speak to them; and, when they are taught, they approve everything. This gives the missionaries much trouble in distinguishing those who sincerely believe. The natives of this country usually have much human respect, and would not dare to profess religion publicly when with infidels. But the Sav- ages of la Prairie overcame this obstacle at the very outset. They glory in being Christians, and make so public a profession of it that no one ventures to come and dwell among them unless he is fully resolved to embrace the Faith ; for he is convinced that he would soon be driven away if he were not fully inclined to live as a good Christian. This causes the unchaste and the drunkards to say: ** I
82 LES RELATIONS DES /^SUITES [Voi. 58
en bon chr^tien. Ce qui fait dire aux impudiques et aux ivrognes: « Je ne vais pas k la Prairie, puisqu'il n'y a ni femmes ni boissons.»
L'eau-de-vie a mine les missionvS algonquines. Elle empeche encore maintenant que beaucoup de Sauvages ne se convertissent. L' avarice insatiable des Frangais en est la cause. lis vont jusqu'k deux cents et trois cents lieues chercher les Sauvages dans les bois, pour avoir leurs pelleteries en les enivrant. Cependant, quoique cette petite mission soit au mi- lieu des Franfais, qui font ce detestable commerce, pas un, par la grace de Dieu, n'a encore eu la pensee d'en apporter ici, ni les Sauvages d'en aller chercher, bien que ceux-ci aient ^te presque tous adonnes k I'ivrognerie avant leur bapteme. Je regarde cette conduite des uns et des autres comme un miracle de la Providence. Je crois qu'il y a un ange tutelaire de ce bourg qui ecarte toutes ces occasions, et que s'il venait k le quitter et la boisson k y entrer, il n'y aurait plus de Christianisme.
L'hiver passe tous allerent k la chasse en cinq ou six bandes. Chacune avait son dogique ; et, pendant ce voyage de trois ou quatre mois, ils firent regle- ment de toutes leurs devotions accoutumees, sans y manquer un seul jour, comme s'ils eussent ^te dans le bourg, assist^^de leur pasteur ; et ils vecurent avec tant d' innocence, qu'on avait peine k y trouver ma- ti^re de confession k leur retour. Ces Sauvages, en verity, se leveront contre nous au jour du jugement.
Un seul catechumene, avec sa femme tres-bonne chretienne, fit sa chasse a quartier. II rencontra deux des plus considerables de la nation d'Agnie, et se joignirent ensemble pour faire leur chasse. Le
1672-74] RELATION OF 1672-73 8a
go not to la Prairie, for there are neither women nor liquor there."
Brandy has ruined the Algonquin missions; and it still prevents many Savages from being converted. The insatiable avarice of the French is the cause of it. They go as far as two and three hundred leagues to seek the Savages in the woods, for the purpose of getting their furs by making them intoxicated. Nevertheless, although this little mission is in the midst of the French who carry on that detestable traffic, not one, through God's grace, has as yet thought of bringing any here ; nor have the Savages thought of going for any, although the latter were nearly all addicted to drunkenness before their baptism. I consider this conduct on the part of both as a miracle of Providence. I believe that there is a guardian angel of this village, who wards off all such occasions for sin ; and that, if he were to leave it, and liquor were to come in, there would be no more Christianity in it.
Last winter, all went out, in five or six bands, to hunt. Each band had its leader, and during that journey of three or four months they regularly per- formed all their usual devotions, without missing a single day, as if they had been in the village and assisted by their pastor. They lived in such inno- cence that it was difficult to find in them, on their return, matter for confession. In truth, these Sav- ages will rise up against us on the day of judgment.
A catechumen was engaged in hunting alone with his wife, a very good Christian. He met two of the principal men of the Agnie nation, and they joined together for the hunt. The catechumen informs them of all that goes on at la Prairie. They listen,
84 LES RELATIONS DES JASUITES [Vol.58
cat6chum^ne les instruit de tout ce qui se passe ^ la Prairie. lis 6coutent, et priant Dieu tous les jours ensemble, il leur apprend parfaitement les prieres. Le printemps venu, ils se rendent ici, afin, disent ils, d'y demeurer avec nous et d'y vivre en chr6tiens. Avant de s'6tablir pour toujours, ils allerent en leur pays pour y chercher leurs femmes, et ils publiferent hautement leur dessein. Quarante-deux personnes, touch^es de Dieu, se joignirent k eux. Arrives tous ici, ils offrent un present pour declarer qu'ils ont quitt^ parents, amis, cabanes, champs, pour avoir plus de facilite "k se faire bons Chretiens; en verity, on n'a jamais vu d'ames mieux disposees.
Le nom de Sauvage fait naitre une idee si d^savan- tageuse de ceux qui le portent, que bien des gens en Europe ont jug^ qu'il ^tait impossible d'en faire de v^ritables Chretiens. Mais ceux-la n'ont pas fait reflexion que Dieu est mort pour le barbare aussi bien que pour le juif, et que son esprit souffle ou il veut. Les bons arbres portent les bons fruits, et Ton juge dans I'occasion de la vertu d'un homme. Ce qui a ete dit et ce qu'on va dire suffit pour montrer que non-seulement il y a de vrais Chretiens parmi ces peuples sauvages, mais meme qu'il y en a un plus grand nombre "k proportion que dans notre Europe civilis^e. Un vieillard ayant demand^, I'automne passe, de demeurer ici avec sa famille assez nom- breuse, cette grace lui fut accord^e. Peu de temps apres, il fait un festin oti les habitants du bourg se trouvant r^unis, il declare qu'il est malade, et que, pour guerir, il lui faut accomplir un songe. Le dogique de nos Chretiens se leve aussitot, et dit tout haut au nom de I'assemblee: « Non, cela ne se fera,
1672-74] RELATION OF 1672-73 85
and, as they pray to God together every day, he teaches them the prayers thoroughly. When spring returns, they come here in order, they say, to remain with us and to live as Christians. Before settling permanently, they went to their own country for their wives, and loudly proclaimed their design. Forty- two persons, all influenced by God, joined them. When all arrived here, they gave a present to declare that they abandoned their relatives, friends, cabins, and fields, to enjoy greater facilities for becoming good Christians. In truth, we have never seen souls better disposed.
The name " Savage " gives rise to so very dispar- aging an idea of those who bear it, that many people in Europe have thought that it is impossible to make true Christians of them. But such persons do not reflect that God died for the barbarian as well as for the Jew, and that his spirit breathes where it wills. Good trees bear good fruits, and a man's virtue is judged when occasion offers. What has been and what will be said suffices to show that not only are there true Christians among these savage peoples, but also that there are many more in proportion than in our civilized Europe. Last autumn, an old man asked to be allowed to live here with his rather numerous family, and this favor was granted him. Shortly afterward, he gives a feast; and, the inhab- itants of the village being present thereat, he declares that he is ill, and that he must fulfill a dream in order to be cured. The leader of our Christians rises at once, and says aloud, in the name of the assembly: " No, that shall not be done, for it would be a sin. We will eat what thou hast prepared for us but only after having prayed to God. ' ' This was done. Then
86 LES RELATIONS DES J^SUITES [Vol.58
puisqu'il y a p6ch^; nous mangerons ce que tu nous as pr^par(S, mais apr^s avoir pri^ Dieu. » Ce qui se fit ainsi. Puis on lui ajouta: « N'y retourne plus, car on te chasserait. » On fut oblig6, au bout de deux mois, d'en venir Ik, parce qu'on ne put bien con- naitre s'il ^tait chretien ou non.
Un autre infidele, qui venait nous visiter, ne fut pas plutot arriv^ qu'il commen9a un festin par rimmola- tion de viandes au d^mon. Tout le monde en est indigne. Le missionnaire se transporte "k la cabane, met bas la chaudiere, et les Chretiens jettent la viande aux chiens. L'infidele fut piqu^, dit que le songe 6tait son dieu, et qu'il n'appr^hendait pas de mourir, ni lui ni les siens, en choquant le Dieu du ciel. Le missionnaire lui r^pliqua que, peut-etre dans peu de temps, il 6prouverait les effets de la juste colere de ce Dieu tout-puissant. Ces menaces ne tarderent pas k s'accomplir, car au bout de trois mois, les trois enfants de ce Sauvage, qui se por- taient tres-bien pour lors, lui furent tous enlev^s par la mort. Cet exemple de la justice Divine a puis- samment confirm^ nos Chretiens dans la Foi, et inspire de la terreur aux infidMes.
II est rare de voir un homme v6ritablement d^vot sans etre vrai serviteur de Notre-Dame. Voilk pour- quoi on a ^tabli dans cette Mission une association de la Sainte-Famille et de I'Esclavage de la Sainte- Vierge . C ' est une reunion com pos6e de nos cbr^tiens les plus f ervents. lis s'assemblent tous les dimanches, pour examiner si Ton garde toutes les regies, pour voir le bien qu'on pent faire et le mal qu'on pent emp^cher. Je serais trop long si je voulais decrire en detail toutes les devotions de cette sainte confr^rie.
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 - 73 87
they added: " Do it no more, or we will drive thee away." They were obliged to resort to that pro- ceeding, at the end of two months, because it could not be really ascertained whether he were a Christian or not.
Another infidel who came to visit us had no sooner arrived than he began a feast by sacrificing meats to the demon. All the people were indignant. The missionary proceeded to the cabin, and took down the kettle, and the Christians threw the meat to the dogs. The infidel was displeased; he said that dreams were his god, and he feared death neither for himself nor for his family through offending the God of heaven. The missionary retorted that per- haps he would soon feel the effects of the just anger of that all-powerful God. These threats were accom- plished before long; for, at the end of three months, that Savage's three children, who were then in very good health, were all taken from him by death. This example of Divine justice has strongly con- firmed our Christians in the Faith, and has inspired the infidels with terror.
It is rare to see a really devout man who is not a true servant of Our Lady. For that reason, a confra- ternity of the Holy Family and of the Servitude of the Blessed Virgin has been established in this Mis- sion. It is an assembly composed of our most fervent Christians. They meet together every Sunday to ascertain whether all the rules are observed, and to learn what good can be done and what evil pre- vented. It would take too long to describe in detail all the devotions of this holy confraternity, and to re- late their tender devotion to Our Lady, their charity toward their neighbors, their zeal for the salvation
88 LES RELATIONS DES JJ^lSUriES [Voi,. 58
montrer leur tendre devotion envers Notre- Dame, leur charite pour le prochain, leur zele pour le salut de leurs compatriotes ; je me contenterai de dire que tout le bien qui est dans cette Mission vient de cette source abondante en toute sorte de biens. Ce sont, en effet, les membres de cette association qui attirent ici les Iroquois, qui les instruisent, qui les pr^parent au bapteme. Ce sont eux encore qui les conservent et maintiennent dans la ferveur, et qui les disposent ainsi k regner un jour dans le ciel.
Une femme de cette confr^rie, voyant son fils unique "k I'agonie, le porta "k la chapelle, et, le met- tant aux pieds de Notre-Dame, lui dit: « Ma chere Maitresse, mon Tout apres Dieu, voil^ mon fils, ou plutot le votre, qui est agonisant; si vous le voulez prendre, il est k vous; si vous voulez me le rendre, je vous serai reconnaissante toute ma vie. J'ai employe inutilement jusqu'ici present, toutes sortes de rem^des pour I'arraclier k la mort. Je ne veux plus y avoir recours; il faut que toute la gloire, apres Dieu, vous en revienne, et que vous le gu^ris- siez vous-meme!))
Cette courte priere achevee en presence du mis- sionnaire, elle retourne en sa cabane avec son enfant. Le lendemain, oil Ton croyait le trouver sans vie, on I'a trouve beaucoup mieux. Deux jours apr^s, il 6tait hors de danger, et il a recouvr6 une sant6 parfaite.
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1672 - 73 89
of their countrymen. I shall content myself with saying that all the good in this Mission comes from this abundant source of all kinds of blessings. In fact, it is the members of this association who attract the Iroquois hither, who instruct them, who prepare them for baptism. It is they also who preserve and maintain the fervor of the new Christians, and who thus prepare them to reign one day in heaven.
A woman who is a member of this association, seeing her only son about to expire, bore him to the chapel, and, laying him at Our Lady's feet, said to her : ' ' My dear Mistress, my All after God, here is my son, or rather yours, who is dying. If you choose to take him, he is yours; if you choose to restore him to me, I will be grateful to you all my life. Until now I have tried all remedies to snatch him from death, but in vain. I will no longer have recourse to them. All the glory must, after God, be yours, and you yourself must cure him."
This short prayer ended, in the presence of the missionary, she returned to her cabin with her child. On the following day, when they expected to find him lifeless, they saw that he was much better. Two days afterward, he was out of danger, and his health is thoroughly restored.
CXXXI — CXXXII
Miscellaneous Documents, 1674
CXXXL — Relation de la descouverte de plusieurs pays situez au midi de la Nouvelle-France, faite en 1673; Claude Dablon, [Quebec le i^"" Aout, 1674]
CXXXH. — Voyage autour de I'lsle Jesus, par le P, Antoine Dalmas; [La Prairie, Octobre, 1674]
SOURCES: Doc. CXXXI. we obtain from Margry's D^couvertes, t. i., pp. 262-270. The original MS. of Doc. CXXXIL rests in the archives of St. Mary's College, Montreal, and the present is its first publication.
92 LES RELATIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol.58
Relation de la descouverte de plusieurs pays
situez au midi de la Nouvelle-
France, faite en 167^.
[Quebec le i^"" Aout 1674.]
NOUS ne pouvons pas donner cette ann6e toute rinstniction qu'on pourroit esp6rer d'une descouverte si considerable, puisque le sieur Jolliet qui nous en apportoit la relation avec une carte tres-exacte de ces nouveaux pays I'a perdue par le naufrage qu'il a fait au-dessous du sault Saint- Louis, proche de Montreal, aprfes en avoir franchy plus de quarante ; a peine a-t-il pu sauver sa vie qu'il a disputee dans les eaux pendant quatre beures de temps.
Voicy n6antmoins ce que nous avons pu ramasser apres I'avoir oiiy, en attendant la relation dont le pere Marquette garde une copie. II y a deux ans que M. le comte de Frontenac, nostre gouvemeur, et M. Talon, alors nostre intendant, jugerent qu'il estoit important de s'appliquer a la descouverte du Midy, apres celle qui a est6 faite de la Mer du Nort, et surtout de s5avoir dans quelle mer s'alloit descharger la grande riviere dont les Sauvages font tant de recit et qui est k 500 lieues d'eux au delk des Outaouacs.
Pour ce dessein ils ne purent faire choix de per- sonne qui eust de plus belles qualitez que du sieur Jolliet, qui a beaucoup fr6quent6 de ce coste-lk et qui s'en est acquitte avec toute la conduitte qu'on pouvoit souhaitter.
1 672 - 74] DISCO VER Y OF MISSISSIPPI 93
Relation of the discovery of many countries
situated to the south of New
France, made in 1673.
[Quebec, August i, 1674.]
WE cannot this year give all the information that might be expected regarding so impor- tant a discovery, since sieur Jolliet, who was bringing to us the account of it, with a very exact chart of these new countries, lost his papers in the wreck which befell him. This occurred below the sault Saint Louis, near Montreal, after he had safely passed more than forty rapids ; he could hardly save his own life, for which he struggled in the waters during four hours. ^
However, you will find herein what we have been able to put together after hearing him converse, while waiting for the relation, of which father Mar- quette is keeping a copy. Two years ago. Monsieur the count de Frontenac, our governor, and Monsieur Talon, then our intendant, decided that it was impor- tant to undertake the discovery of the Southern Sea, after having accomplished that of the Northern; and, above all, to ascertain into what sea falls the great river, about which the Savages relate so much, and which is 500 leagues from them, beyond the Outaouacs.
For this purpose, they could not have selected a person endowed with better qualities than is sieur Jolliet, who has traveled much in that region, and
94 LES RELATIONS DES j£:SUITES [Vol.58
Estant arriv6 aux Outaouacs, il se joignit avec le pfere Marquette qui attendoit pour cela et qui, depuis longtemps pr6m6ditoit cette entreprise, I'ayant bien des fois concert^e ensemble ; ils se mirent done en chemin avec cinq autres Fran9ois vers le commence- ment de juin 1673 pour entrer dans des pays ou jamais Europ6en n'avoit mis les pieds.
Leur journal portoit que, partant de la Baye des Puans^ par les 43 degrez 40 minutes d' elevation, vers le commencement ils avoient navigu6 sur une petite riviere fort douce et fort agr^able pres de 60 lieues, tirant vers I'ouest surouest. lis cherclioient un portage qui les devoit faire "k une demy-lieue passer de cette riviere dans une autre qui venoit de norouest, sur laquelle estant embarquez et ayant fait 40 lieues vers le surouest. Enfin le 1 5 de juin se trouvant k 42 degrez et demy, ils entrerent heureuse- ment dans cette fameuse riviere que les Sauvages appellent Mississipi, comme qui diroit la Grande- Riviere, parce que de faict elle est la plus considerable de celles qui sont en ce payz. Elle vient de fort loin du cost6 du nort au rapport des sauvages. Elle est belle et a pour 1' ordinaire un quart de lieue de large. Elle en a bien plus aux endroits ou elle est coup6e d'isles qui sont neantmoins assez rares. Elle a jusques dix brasses d'eau, et elle coule fort douce- ment jusques ^ ce qu'elle re5oive la descharge d'une autre grosse riviere qui vient de I'ouest et norouest, vers les 38 degrez de hauteur, car estant enfl6e de ses eaux, elle devient si rapide et a un courant si rude [roide — Doun.\ qu'en remontant on ne pent faire que quatre ou cinq lieues par jour, nageant depuis le matin jusques au soir.
1672 - 74] DISCO VER V OF MISSISSIPPI 95
has acquitted himself in this task with all the ability that could be desired.
On arriving in the Outaouac country, he joined father Marquette, who awaited him for that voyage, and who had long premeditated that undertaking, for they had frequently agreed upon it together. They set out, accordingly, with five other French- men, about the beginning of June, 1673, to enter countries wherein no European had ever set foot.
Their journal stated that — leaving the Bay des Puans, at the latitude of 43 degrees and 40 minutes — at first they voyaged for nearly 60 leagues upon a small river, very smooth and pleasant, running in a west-southwesterly direction. They found a portage which would enable them, by going half a league, to pass from that river to another, which flowed from the northwest. Upon that stream they embarked, and, after going 40 leagues to the southwest, they found themselves, on the 15th of June, at 42 and one- half degrees of latitude, and successfully entered that famous river called by the Savages Mississipi,"^ — as one might say, " the Great River," because it is, in fact, the most important of all the rivers in this country. It comes from a great distance northward, according to the savages. It is a noble stream, and is usually a quarter of a league wide. Its width is still greater at the places where it is interrupted by islands — which, however, are very few. Its depth is as much as ten brasses of water ; and it flows very gently, until it receives the discharge of another great river, which comes from the west and north- west, at about the 38th degree of latitude. Then, swollen with that volume of water, it becomes very rapid; and its current has so much force that, in
96 LES RELATIONS DES J ^SUITES [Vol.58
II y a des bois des deux costez jusques k la mer. Les plus puissans des arbres qu'on y voit sont una esp^ce de cotonniers qui sont extraordinairement gros et hauts. Aussy les sauvages s'en servent-ils pour faire des canots tout d'une piece de cinquante pieds de long et trois de large, dans lesquels trente hommes avec tout leur Equipage peuvent s'embar- quer. lis le travaillent avec plus de politesse [petitesse — Doun.'] que nous ne faisons les nostres. lis en ont un si grand nombre qu'en seule bourgade, on en vit jusques b. 280 [cent-quatre-vingts — Doun.~\ ensemble.
Les nations sont plac6es proche la Grande- Riviere, ou plus loin vers les terres. Nos voyageurs comp- terent plus de 40 bourgades dont la plus part sont compos^es de 60 ou 80 cabanes, quelques-unes de 300, comme celle des Ilinois qui a plus de 8,000 ames. Tous les Sauvages qui la composent parois- sent d'un bon naturel. lis sont affables et obligeants. Nos Franfois ressentirent les effects de cette civilit6 de la premiere bourgade oil ils entrerent, car c'est Ik qu'on leur fit present d'un baston k p^tuner long de trois pieds environ, fa^onne de divers plumages, ce qui est un grand myst^re parmy ces peuples, parce qu'il est comme un passeport et une sauvegarde pour aller en assurance parmy toutes les nations, sans qu'on ose en aucune maniere offenser ceux qui portent ce caduc6e. On n'a qu'k. le montrer, et on est assure de la vie mesme dans le plus fort du combat. Comme il y a un baston de paix, il y en a aussy un autre de guerre, qui ne sont diff^rents n6antmoins que par la couleur des plumes dont ils sont converts, les rouges estant marque de guerre, et les autres
1672 - 74] DISCO VER Y OF MISSISSIPPI 97
ascending it, only four or five leagues a day can be accomplished, by paddling from morning to night.
There are forests on both sides, as far as the sea. The most vigorous trees that one sees there are a species of cotton-tree, of extraordinary girth and height. The savages therefore use these trees for making canoes, — all of one piece, fifty feet in length and three in width, in which thirty men with all their baggage can embark. They make them of much more graceful shape than we do ours. They have so great a number of them that in a single village one sees as many as 280 together.
The nations are located near the Great River, or farther inland. Our travelers counted more than 40 villages, most of which consisted of 60 to 80 cabins. Some villages even contained 300 cabins, such as that of the Ilinois, which contains over 8,000 souls. All of the Savages who compose it seem to have a gentle nature ; they are affable and obliging. Our Frenchmen experienced the effects of this civil- ity at the first village that they entered, for there a present was made them — a pipe-stem for smoking, about three feet long, adorned with feathers of various kinds. This gift has almost a religious meaning among these peoples ; because the calumet is, as it were, a passport and safeguard to enable one to go in safety everywhere, no one daring to injure in any manner those who bear this caduceus. It has only to be displayed, and life is secure, even in the thickest of the fight. As there is a peace-pipe, so also is there a war-pipe ; these differ, however, solely in the color of the feathers that cover them, — red being the token of war, while the other colors are
98 LES RELATIONS DBS jASUITES [Vol.58
couleurs signe de paix. II y auroit bien des choses ^ dire de ce baston aussy bien que des moeurs et des fa9ons de faire de ces peuples. En attendant que nous en recevions le r^cit, nous dirons seulement que les femmes y sont fort retenues. Aussy leur coupe-t-on le nez quand elles font mal. Ce sont elles qui, avec les vieillards, ont soin de la culture de la terre, et quand les semences sont faites, touts partent ensemble pour aller aux environs k la chasse des boeufs sauvages dont ils se nourissent et se font des habits de leurs peaux, qu'ils passent avec une certaine terre qui leur sert de peinture.
Ce sol est si fertile qu'il porte trois fois I'annee du bled. II produit naturellement des fruits qui nous sont inconnus et qui sont excellens. Les raisins, les prunes, les pommes, les meures, les marrons, les grenades et quantite d'autres se cueillent partout et presque en tout temps. Aussy ne connoist-on I'hyver que par les pluyes.
Les prairies et les forests partagent egalement ce pays qui fournit des beaux pasturages k un grand nombre de bestes dont il est remply. Les boeufs sauvages ne fuyent jamais. Le Pere en a compt6 jusques ^ 400 en une seule bande. Les cerfs, les biches, les chevreuils sont presque partout. Les coqs d'Inde se promenent de tous costez. Les perroquets y volent par bandes de 10 a 12, et les cailles se levent dans les prairies ^ tout moment.
C'est au milieu de ce beau pays que nos voyageurs passoient, avangans sur la Grande- Riviere jusques au 33^ degre d' elevation et allant presque tou jours vers le midy. Ils rencontroient de temps en temps des Sauvages dont ils estoient bien receus a la faveur
1672 - 74] DISCO I 'ER V OF MISSISSIPPI 99
signs of peace. Alany things might indeed be said about this pipe-stem, as well as of the manners and customs of those peoples. Until such time as we receive the relation thereof, we shall merely say that the women are very modest; also, that, when they do wrong, their noses are cut off. It is they who, with the old men, have the care of tilling the soil; and, when the seed is sown, all go together to hunt the wild cattle, which supply them with food. From the hides of these, they make their garments, dress- ing the skin with a certain kind of earth, which also serves them as a dye.
The soil is so fertile that it yields corn three times a year. It produces, naturally, fruits which are unknown to us and are excellent. Grapes, plums, apples, mulberries, chestnuts, pomegranates, and many others are gathered everywhere, and almost at all times, for winter is only known there by the rains.
The country is equally divided into prairies and forests, and provides fine pastures for the great num- ber of animals with which it abounds. The wild cattle never flee. The Father counted as many as 400 of them in a single herd. Stags, does, and deer are almost everywhere. Turkeys strut about, on all sides. Parroquets fly in flocks of 10 to 12; and quail rise on the prairies at every moment.
Through the midst of this fine country our travel- ers passed, advancing upon the Great River to the 33rd degree of latitude, and going almost always toward the south. From time to time, they met Savages, by whom they were very well received, through favor of their caduceus or calumet-stem. Toward the end, they learned from the Savages that
100 LES RELATIONS DES J ^SUITES [Vol. 58
de leur caduc6e ou baston de calumet, et sur la fin ils apprirent d'eux qu'ilsapprochoient des habitations des Europeans et qu'ils n'en estoient esloignez que de trois journ6es, puis de deux seulement qu'ils avoient [allassent — Doun.; sc. etoient — Ed.'] k la main gauche et qu'ils n'avoient plus que 50 lieues pour se rendre k la mer. Ce fut alors que le P^re et le sieur JoUiet d^lib^rerent sur ce qu'ils avoient k faire, s9avoir s'il estoit expedient de passer outre, ne doutant point qu'ils n' allassent se jeter dans les mains des Espagnols de la Floride s'ils avangoient davantage, qu'ils exposeroient les Frangois qui les accompagnoient h. un danger Evident de laisser la vie, qu'ils perdroient le fruit de leur voyage, et qu'ils n'en pourroient pas donner connoissance s'ils estoient arrestez prisonniers, comme probablement ils le seroient, s'ils tomboient entre les mains des Europeans,
Ces raisons leur firent prendre resolution de retour- ner sur leurs pas, apres s'estre bien informez de tout ce qu'on pent souhaiter dans une pareille rencontre, lis ne reprirent pas entierement le mesme chemin, s'estant rendus sur la fin de novembre k la baye des Puans par des routes diff6rentes, sans autre guide que leurs boussoles.
En attendant le journal de ce voyage, nous pouvons faire les remarques suivantes touchant I'utilit^ de cette descouverte.
La premiere est qu'elle nous ouvre un grand champ pour la publication de la Foy, et nous donne entree k des peuples tres-nombreux, tres-dociles et bien portez ^ le recevoir, ayant fait paroistre un grand d6sir de recevoir au plustost le Pere et ayant receu avec
1672 - 74] DISCO VER Y OF MISSISSIPPI 101
they were approaching European settlements; that they were only three days, and finally only two days distant from these; that the Europeans were on the left hand; and that they had to proceed but 50 leagues farther, to reach the sea. Then the Father and sieur Jolliet deliberated as to what they should do, — that is, if it were advisable to go on. They felt certain that, if they advanced farther, they would fling themselves into the hands of the Span- iards of Florida, and would expose the French who accompanied them to the manifest danger of losing their lives. Moreover, they would lose the results of their voyage, and could not give any information regarding it, if they were detained as prisoners — as they probably would be, if they fell into the hands of Europeans.
These reasons made them resolve to retrace their steps, after having obtained full information about everything that could be desired on such an occasion. They did not return by exactly the same route ; at the end of November, they reached the bay des Puans, by different routes from the former one, and with no other guide than their compasses.
While waiting for the journal of that voyage, we may make the following remarks regarding the utility of this discovery.
The first is, that it opens up to us a great field for the preaching of the Faith, and gives us entrance to very numerous peoples, who are very docile, and well disposed to receive it; for they manifested a great desire to obtain the Father as soon as possible, and received with much respect the first words of life which he announced to them. The altogether diverse languages of these tribes do not frighten our
102 LES RELATIONS DES J&SUITES [Vol.58
beaucoup de respect les premieres paroles de vie qu'il leur a annonc^es. Les langues toutes differentes de ces nations ne font pas peur ^ nos missionnaires. Quelques-uns d'entre eux entendent desjk et se font entendre des Islinois, qui sont les premiers qu'on rencontre, et c'est chez eux que le pere Marquette va commencer ^ establir le royaume de Jesus-Christ.
La seconde remarque est touchant le terme de ceste descouverte. Le P^re et le sieur Jolliet ne doutent point que ce ne soit vers le golphe de Mexique, qui est la Floride, parceque du cost6 du levant ce ne peut pas estre la Virginie, dont le bord de la mer est k plus de 34 degrez d' elevation, et eux ont niarcli6 jusques au 33, et cependant n'ont appro- cli6 de la mer que de cinquante lieues du coste du couchant. Ce ne peut pas estre aussy la mer Ver- meille, parceque leur route, ayant presque toujours est^ vers le sud, les en destournoit ; il reste done que ce soit la Floride, qui est au milieu de I'une et de I'autre, et bien plus probablement la riviere que les g^ographes marquent et appellent du Saint- Esprit est Mississipi, sur laquelle nos Fran9ois ont navigue.
La troisiesme remarque est que, comme il eust ete tres souhaitable que le terme de ceste descouverte eust est6 la mer Vermeille, qui eust donn6 en mesme temps entree dans la mer du Japon et de la Chine, aussy ne doit-on pas d^sesperer de venir k bout de cette autre descouverte de la mer du couchant par le moyen du Mississipi, parceque remontant au norouest par la riviere qui s'y descharge par le 38'"* degre, comme nous avons dit, peut-estre arrivera-t-on ^ quel- que lac qui aura sa descharge par le couchant, qui est ce que Ton cherche, et qui est d'autant plus k desirer
1672 - 74] DISCO VER V OF MISSISSIPPI 103
missionaries; some of them already know and make themselves understood in that of the Islinois, the first savages who are encountered [upon the river]. It is among them that father Marquette will begin to establish the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
The second remark concerns the terminus of this discovery. The Father and sieur JoUiet have no doubt that it is toward the gulf of Mexico — that is, Florida. For eastward there can only be Virginia, the sea-coast of which is, at most, at 34 degrees of latitude; while they went as low as 33, and still had not come within fifty leagues of the sea, to the west. Likewise, it cannot be the Vermilion sea; because their route, which was nearly always toward the south, took them away from that sea. There remains therefore only Florida, which is midway between both ; and it is certainly most probable that the river, which geographers trace, and call Saint Esprit, is the Mississipi, on which our French navigated.
The third remark is that, as it would have been highly desirable that the terminus of that discovery should prove to be the Vermilion sea, — which would have given at the same time access to the sea of Japan and of China, — so, also, we must not despair of succeeding in that other discovery of the western sea, by means of the Mississipi. For, ascending to the northwest by the river which empties into it at the 38th degree, as we have said, perhaps one would reach some lake, which will discharge its waters toward the west. It is this that we seek, and it is all the more to be desired, because all these countries abound in lakes and are intersected by rivers, which offer wonderful communications between these coun- tries, as the reader may judge. ^
104 LES RELA TIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol. 58
que toutes ces terres sont remplies de bois et couples de rivieres qui donnent de merveilleuses communica- tions ^ ces pays des uns aux autres, comma on peut juger.
La quatriesme remarque regarde un advantage bien grand et considerable, et qu'on aura peut-estre de la peine k croire: c' est que nous pourrions aise- ment aller jusques ^ la Floride en barque et par une fort belle navigation. Iln'y auroit qu'une saign^e ^ faire, coupant demy lieue de prairie seulement pour entrer du fond du lac des Illinois dans la riviere Saint-Louis. Voicy la route qu'on tiendroit. La barque se devroit faire dans le lac Erie, qui est proche de 1' Ontario. Elle iroit aisement du lac Erie dans le lac Huron, d'ou elle entreroit dans le lac Illinois, au fond duquel se feroit la trancli6e ou le canal dont j'ay parle pour avoir passage dans la riviere de Saint-Louis, qui se descharge dans Missis- sipi, y estant la barque navigable \sc. navigueroit] facilement jusqu'au golphe de Mexique. Le fort de Catarokouy, que M. de Frontenac a fait construire sur rOntario, favoriseroit beaucoup cette entreprise, parce qu'il faciliteroit la communication de Quebec au lac Erie, d'oii ce fort n'est pas bien esloign^, et, sans une cheute d'eau qui s6pare le lac Erie d'avec celuy de 1' Ontario, la barque qui se bastiroit h Cata- rokouy pourroit aller jusques ^ la Floride par les routes que je viens de remarquer.
La cinquiesme remarque est touchant les grands avantages qu'il y a d'establir de nouvelles colonies dans de si beaux pays et sur des terres si fertiles. Voicy ce qu'en dit le sieur Jollyet, car c'est Ik sa pensee.
1672 - 74] DISCO VER V OF MISSISSIPPI 105-
The fourth remark concerns a very great and important advantage, which perhaps will hardly be believed. It is that we could go with facility to Florida in a bark, and by very easy navigation. It would only be necessary to make a canal, by cutting through but half a league of prairie, to pass from, the foot of the lake of the Illinois to the river Saint Louis. ^ Here is the route that would be followed: the bark would be built on lake Erie, which is near lake Ontario ; it would easily pass from lake Erie to lake Huron, whence it would enter lake Illinois. At the end of that lake the canal or excavation of which I have spoken would be made, to gain a passage into the river Saint Louis, which falls into the Mississipi. The bark, w^hen there, would easily sail to the gulf of Mexico. Fort Catarokouy, which Monsieur de Frontenac has had built on lake Ontario, ^*^ would greatly promote that undertaking ; for it would facili- tate communication between Quebec and lake Erie, from which that fort is not very distant. And even, were it not for a waterfall separating lake Erie from lake Ontario, a bark built at Catarokouy could go to Florida by the routes that I have just mentioned.
The fifth remark refers to the great advantages that would accrue from the establishment of new colonies, in countries so beautiful and upon lands so fertile. Let us see what the sieur JoUyet says of them, for this is his project.
" At first, when we were told of these treeless lands,. I imagined that it was a country ravaged by fire, where the soil was so poor that it could produce nothing. But we have certainly observed the contrary ; and no better soil can be found, either for corn, for vines,, or for any other fruit whatever.
106 LES RELATIONS DES jtSUITES [Vol.58
" Dans le commencement, lorsqu'on me parloit de ces terres sans arbres, je m'imaginois un pays brusl6 ou bien que la terre y estoit si ch6tive qu'elle n'y pourroit rien produire, mais nous avons bien remar- qu6 le contraire, et il ne s'en peut trouver de meilleure, ny pour les bleds, ny pour les vignes, ny pour quelques autres fruits que ce soit.
" La riviere que nous avons nomm6e de Saint- Louis, et qui vient de proche du fond du lac des Illinois m'a paru la plus belle et la plus facile pour estre habitee. L'endroit par lequel nons sommes entrez dans ce lac est un havre fort commode pour Tecevoir les vaisseaux et les mettre k I'abry du vent ; cette riviere est large et profonde, remplie de bar- bues et d'esturgeons. Le gibier y est en abondance; les boeufs, les vaches, les cerfs, les biches, les coqs d'Inde, y paroissent beaucoup plus qu'ailleurs; pendant I'espace de quatre-vingts lieues, je n'aypas est6 un quart d'heure sans en voir.
"II y a des prairies de trois, de six, de dix et de vingt lieues de long et trois lieues de large, environ- nees de forests de mesme estendue, au del^ des- quelles les prairies recommencent, en sorte qu'il y a autant de I'un que de I'autre, [On rencontre quelque- fois les herbes fort basses, — Doun.'] et d'autres fois on les voit hautes de cinq ^ six piedz ; le chanvre qui y croist naturellement monte jusques h. huit piedz.
" Un habitant n'employeroit pas Yk des dix ans k abattre le bois et h. le brusler. Des le mesme jour qu'il y entreroit, il mettroit la charrue en terre, et s'il n'avoit pas des boeufs de France, il se serviroit de ceux du pays, ou bien de ces animaux qu'ont les Sauvages de 1' Quest, sur lesquels ils font porter comme nous sur les chevaux.
1672 - 74] DISCO VER V OF MISSISSIPPI 107
" The river which we named for Saint Louis, which rises near the lower end of the lake of the Illinois, seemed to me the most beautiful, and most suitable for settlement. The place at which we entered the lake is a harbor, very convenient for receiving vessels and sheltering them from the wind." The river is wide and deep, abounding in catfish and sturgeon. Game is abundant there; oxen, cows, stags, does, and Turkeys are found there in greater numbers than elsewhere. For a distance of eighty leagues, I did not pass a quarter of an hour without seeing some.
"There are prairies three, six, ten, and twenty leagues in length, and three in width, surrounded by forests of the same extent; beyond these, the prai- ries begin again, so that there is as much of one sort of land as of the other. Sometimes we saw the grass very short, and, at other times, five or six feet high ; hemp, which grows naturally there, reaches a height of eight feet.
"A settler would not there spend ten years in cut- ting down and burning the trees ; on the very day of his arrival, he could put his plow into the ground. And, if he had no oxen from France, he could use those of this country, or even the animals possessed by the Western Savages, on which they ride, as we do on horses.
" After sowing grain of all kinds, he might devote himself especially to planting the vine, and grafting fruit-trees ; to dressing ox-hides, wherewith to make shoes; and with the wool of these oxen he could make cloth, much finer than most of that which we bring from France. Thus he would easily find in the country his food and clothing, and nothing would be wanting except salt; but, as he could make
108 LES RELATIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol.58
" Aprfes le semence de toutes sortes de grains, il s'appliqueroit surtout k planter de la vigne, h. enter des arbres fruitiers ; des peaux de boeufs il se feroit des souliers et de leurs laines des estoffes qui seront plus fines que plusieurs de celles qu'on nous apporte de France ; et ainsy il trouveroit ais^ment sur le pays de quoy se nourrir et se couvrir. Rien n'y manqueroit que le sel, mais il ne seroit pas bien diffi- cile de remedier k cet inconvenient par les precau- tions qu'on peut prendre."
Voyl^ un petit precis de ce que le journal qui a este perdu disoit amplement. Si nous pouvons en recouvrer la copie, on y verra bien des choses capables de contenter les curieux et satisfaire les geographes, touchant les difficultez qu'ils peuvent avoir sur les descriptions qu'ils font de ces quartiers de rAm^rique septentrionale.
1672 - 74] DISCO VER V OF MISSISSIPPI 109
provision for it, it would not be very difficult to remedy that inconvenience,"
The above is a brief abstract of matters which are fully related in the journal that was lost. If we can secure the copy of it, we shall observe therein many things which will please the curious, and satisfy geographers regarding the difficulties that they may encounter in preparing descriptions of that part of north America.
110 LES RELATIONS DES J^SUITES H^ol. 58
Voyage autour de I'lsle Jesus.
MON Reuerend Pere Pax Christi Apres auoir grofsierement crocqu6 fuiuant ce qui m'est reste dans 1' Imagination ce leger crayon de la coste de I'lfle Jesus qui est arrons^e de la riuiere des prayries ie me fers de 1 occalion de nos deux habitans Jean Du Val et Thomas pour montrer a V'"'. R"^*. ce quil y a de bon dans cette route fur quoy 1 on puifse fonder quelque Defsein. Vniuer- sellement la coste est Ingratte et de difficile accez, Ingratte dautant qu'il y a plus de mauuaife terre que de bonne; de difficile accez dautant que les aueniies en font bord^es par des rapides qui font au nombre de cinq, vn a vne lieue ou enuiron de 1 entree par le bout den bas deux autres vers le tiers du Chemin en montant du bout d en bas qui font a vne lieue prez 1 vn de 1 autre, deux autres vers le bout den bault aufsy efloignez I'vn de 1 autre d enuiron vne lieue et demie Ces rapides font la pluspart tres difficiles en ce temps cy ou il ny a pas d'eau au prin- temps non, mais les Canots auroint bien de la peine a tenir les bords de la Riuiere a caufe des arbres fort bas et des troncs de ceux qui font couches outre les pointes de Roches fort frequentes car le lict de la riuiere [en] est dans la plus grande part pane et le riuage ne montre presque autre chose, le courant
1672-74] AUTOUR DE VISLE J&SUS 111
Voyage around Isle Jesus.
MY Reverend Father, Pax Christi. After having roughly drawn, according to what remained in my Imagination, this light sketch of the shores of Isle Jesus, which is washed by the river des prayries, I will avail myself of the oppor- tunity afforded by our two habitans, Jean Du Val and Thomas, to point out to Your Reverence what good there is in this route, upon which some Project may be founded. The shore is everywhere Sterile, and difficult of access — Sterile, inasmuch as there is more bad land than good; difficult of access, because the approaches to it are bordered by rapids, five in number — one at one league, or thereabout, from the entrance at the lower end ; two others, about a third of the Way going up from the lower end, which are one league distant from each other ; and two others, toward the upper end, also separated from each other by about one league and a half. Most of these rapids are very difficult at this season, when there is no water. Not so in the spring; the Canoes, however, would have considerable trouble in keeping close to the banks of the River, on account of the very low trees, and the trunks of those which have fallen beyond the points of the Rocks; these are very numerous, for the greater part of the river-bed is paved with them, and the bank shows almost nothing else. The current is very Rapid; in some places
112 LES RELATJONS DES jASUITES [Vol.58
est tres Impetueux en quelques vns il fault bien de 1 addrefse pour ne pas y ceder
cependant la pointe d en bas ou demeure M'. frison est bonne terre et il fen trouu6 quelques autres anfes assez bonne
fi abfolument il en falloit choilir la meilleure apres la pointe den bas est vne anfe qu'est a deux ou trois lieues audefsus de la pointe d em bas, mais parcequ'elle na pas vne lieue de bon Jl y a audefsus du troisiesme rapide vn Pays afsez beau depuis qu'on a pafs6 vn quartier afsez fombre et trifte Jl y a enfuitte deux beaux bafsins et chanaux accompagnez d afsez bonne terre et qui font f epares d vne belle Jsle qui' a enuiron dix ou 12 arpens de long et deux de large cette eftendue eft bien de deux lieues ou plus et commence vers la moitie de 1 Isle tirans vers le hault de 1 Jsle, 1 on croit que ceft le plus large de 1 Isle que 1 on tient estre d enuiron trois lieues par le milieu. Entre les Incommoditez de cet Endroit outre les rapides Jl fault nombrer i . la proximity de Mont Royal qui fera bientost frequente de traitteurs vers ces quartiers f ils y fentent des fauuages 2^^. la contrainte de pafser par vne des deux Extremitez de rjsle qvi n'eftans point a vous font pour eftre faisies de ces mesmes traitteurs. 3 la Concurrence de ceux que Ton dit pretendre fur ces Endroits car M*". frison ma dit que Mr. Dupuy en auoit obtenu il y a long temps vne lieue vers le milieu et les autres m'ont dit a fon Choix mesmes un de nos habitans m'a dit qu'il auoit efte follicit6 par le dit M"" Dupuy et depuis qu'il eftoit chez les feurspar les dites feurs a y prendre habitation; dailleurs Ton m'a adioufte
1672-74] AUTOUR DE IJISLE JASUS 113
much skill is needed to avoid being carried away by it.
However, the lower point, where Monsieur frison ^- lives, is good land ; and there are some other very good coves.
If it were absolutely necessary to decide, the best, after the lower point, is a cove which is two or three leagues above the lower point ; but, as it has not a league of good land. There is above the third rapid very fine Country, after one has passed a rather somber and gloomy region. There are, beyond, two fine basins and channels surrounded by fairly good land, which are separated by a beautiful Island about ten or 12 arpents long and two wide. This tract covers fully two leagues, or more ; it begins toward the middle of the Island, and extends toward its upper part. This is believed to be the greater part of the Island, which is estimated to be about three leagues through the middle. Among the Incon- veniences of this Place, besides the rapids, must be numbered: i. The proximity of Mont Royal, which will soon be frequented by traders to these regions if they scent any savages there. 2. The narrowness of the passage around one of the two Extremities of the Island, which, not being yours, are likely to be seized by these same traders. 3. The Opposition of those who are said to lay claim to these Places. For Monsieur frison told me that Monsieur Dupuy ^^ had obtained, a long time ago, a league of it toward the middle, — and, as others have told me, at his own Option. Even one of our habitans told me that he had been solicited by the said Monsieur Dupuy — and, since he was with the sisters, by those sisters — to take up his residence there. I have been told,
114 LES RELATIONS DES J&SUITES [Vol.58
que M^ Daillibour en auoit retenu vne demi lieiie ie ne fcay pas fi ceft du dit Mr. Dupuy 4. Enfin Ton ne peut meiner des prouifions en ce lieu la que le printemps; II faudroit done fcauoir de mefsieurs Dupuy et Daillibourg leur pretenfions, et eftre afseur6 des feigneurs du pays et des voisins quils n'y placeront perfonne fans 1 obligation de ne point traitter de Boifson, ou plustost que la defenfe obte- niie de M"". le Comte pour la prairie fuft vniverselle pour tous les poftes ou les fauuages f habitueroint parmi nous ie croy que fuppof6 cette defenfe obteniie pour icy Ton pouroit aifement la faire eftendre par le Roy en france fur toutes nos mifsions fe feruans de celle cy pour preuue que cela entre dans 1 Esprit de ceux qvi gouuernent 1 on dit que M*". le Moyne a quatre lieues audefsus du fault ft Louis et qu'il fait abbatis a 1 embouchure de la riuiere du loup qu'est a deux lieues du fault Jl est done probable que cest le milieu de fa Concefsion et qu'vne des Extremitez va Jufques a la noftre proche ledit fault et par fuitte qu'en bas il y aura quelqu'vn qui fe cantonnera la pour y debiter les boiffons et fianquer le fault. Ton dit que le defsus des Ifles de la paix et le cofte du fud vers le lac des Deux montagnes eft bonne terre et bel air dailleurs cest en chemin pour monter la hault ; Jl y auroit peut eftre la plus d auentage pour vn eftabliflemt de fauuages le pays eftant grand le lac long et large et bon pour la pefche et le pafsage afses frequent^ des Irocqvois et autres, dailleurs tous les pays plus proches estans ou f aifis ou manuals et en proye aux traitteurs au defsus desquels Ton feroit.
1672 - 74] A UTO UR DE LISLE J&SUS 1 15
besides, that Monsieur Daillibour [D'Ailleboust] has retained half a league of it ; I do not know whether this is from the said Monsieur Dupuy. 4. Finally, provisions cannot be taken to that place except in the spring. It would be necessary, therefore, to ascertain from messieurs Dupuy and Daillibourg their claims, and to be assured by the seigniors of the country, and by their neighbors, that they will not place any one there without binding him not to trade in Liquor, — or, rather, that the prohibition obtained from Monsieur the Count for la prairie be universal for all the posts where the savages may dwell among us. I believe that, in case this pro- hibition be obtained for this place, it could be easily extended by the King, in france, over all our mis- sions,— availing themselves of this one as a proof that such is the Intention of those who rule. It is said that Monsieur le Moyne has four leagues above the sault st. Louis, and that he is making clearings at the mouth of the river du loup, which is two leagues from the sault. It is, therefore, probable that the river is the middle of his Grant, and that one of its Extremities reaches To ours, near the said sault; and, consequently, that lower down there will be some one who will take up his quarters there, to retail liquors and to secure the sault. It is said that the upper part of the Isles de la paix, and the south- ern shore toward the lake of the Two mountains, is good land, and that the air is fine ; besides, it is on the way, in ascending the river. There would be, perhaps, more advantages there for a settlement of savages, the country being extensive, the lake long and wide, and good for fishing, and the route much frequented by the Irocquois and others. Besides,
116 LES RELA TIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol. 58
Pur dire vn mot de mon Voyage en forme de Jour- nal Je partis d icy lundy 24* feptembre auec M"" le moyne et Piere gagnie les meilleurs Canoteurs de cette Coste J arriue fur le midy a mont Royal le foir chez M*" de la Chesnaye le mardy matin J'y dis la mefse ou M*" frison se trouua enfuitte nous 1 al- lasmes vifiter il me dit qu'il fouhaitteroit fortement que nous fufsions la et que 1 on le laifsast feulement le reste de fes Jours a cultiuer fon Jardin dont il nous donna de diuerfes graines fur les 9 ou dix heures nous montafmes la Riuiere des prayries et Cabannafmes au defsus du troifiefme rapide Auant que d'auancer il fault remarquer 1° que 1 Jsle Jefus a fa longueur au fud fud[ou]est et la pointe d en bas regard le nord nordest, 2°. que nous laifsafmes 1 Ifle aux Vaches, que nous montafmes le i"" rapide qui est a enuiron vne lieiie de la pointe d en bas du coste de Montroyal et puis nous costoyasmes 1 Jsle Jefus, 3°. que nous n'auons point visit6 la Coste del Jsle Jefus ouest nordwest d autant qu'il y a vn rapide de trois lieues et peu d'eau et que d ailleurs nous auons visite le bout d en hault d'ou descendant par la riuiere Jefus Ton ne trouue que manuals pays tout inonde parsem6 des mil Isles. 4° au milieu du premier rapide Jl y a vne longue roche ronde a fleur d eau furtout quand les eaux font plus haute afsez dange- reuse. 5° depuis ce premier rapide la terre est mau- uaife Jufqu'a plus d vne lieue, 6° du Cofte de mont Royal depuis la pointe Jufques la ou eft le i*'. rapide Jl y a diuerfes habitations, 6° [i.e., 7°] vne lieue ou enuiron au defsus de ce premier rapide fe defcouure vne grande anfe qui femble auoir prez de 3 quarts de
1 672 - 74] A UTO UR DE V ISLE jASUS 1 17
all the nearer country is either taken, or is poor; and it is a prey to the traders, above whom we would be.
To say a word of my Voyage, in the form of a Journal. I departed from here monday, the 24th of September, with Monsieur le moyne and Piere gagnie, the best Canoemen in this Quarter.^* I reached mont Royal about noon, and in the evening the house of Monsieur de la Chesnaye.^^ Tuesday morning, I said mass there, at which Monsieur frison was present. Then we went to visit him ; He told me that he greatly desired that we should live there ; and that he wished only to be left the rest of his Days to cultivate his Garden, from which he gave us various seeds. About 9 or ten o'clock, we went up the River des prayries, and Encamped above the third rapid. Before going on, it must be observed:
1. That Isle Jesus has its length to the south-south- west, and the lower point faces the north-northeast.
2. That we left Isle aux Vaches, ascended the ist rapid, which is about a league from the lower point of the shore of Montroyal, and then coasted along Isle Jesus. 3. That we did not visit the west- north- west Shore of Isle Jesus, inasmuch as there is a rapid there of three leagues, and very little water ; and that, besides, we visited the upper end, whence, descending by the river Jesus, one finds only bad country, all flooded, and dotted with a thousand Islands. 4. In the midst of the first rapid There is a long round rock, level with the water, and very dangerous, especially when the waters are highest. 5. From this first rapid, the land is poor For more than a league. 6. On the Side of mont Royal, from the point To the place where the ist rapid is, There
118 LES RELA TIONS DES j£SUITES [Vol. 58
lieiie et auoir bonne terre elle est terminer par vn Colteau qui commence par vne pointe toute de grande et grofses Pierres fort belles Jufques dans I'eau ce Coll;eau porte vne belle piniere qui paroift de loing et les Cedres font fort gros et frequens tout du long de ces cofles. le Costeau a plufieurs anfes Bordees de Caillous et de pierres qui pauent mefmes le Che- nail ou fe voyent force Longues pierres plattes nous auons pafs6 le deuxiesme rapide proche L Isle Jefus et le troisiesme proche d vne petite Jfloye ou est la force du courant qui donne bien de la peine a ceux qui traifnent quoiquils fe tiennent a cette Jfloye le 3*. rapide est au defsus du 2*. vne lieiie ou enuiron, de la le pays est afsez ferre fombre trifle et ferre Jufqu'a vne lieiie et demie ou plus Jl y a quelques petites anfes de bonne Terre puis Ton defcouure vne grande anfe qvi auec la Cofte de mont Royal repre- fente comme vn trefle ou pate d'oye le bas est bon et beau et la terre belle, elle est termin6e par vne Jsle qui paroist de lo arpens ou plus et large d en- uiron vn ou deux afses bonne terre qui estant proche 1 Jsle Jesus hors du grand chenail doit appartenir a 1 Jsle Jesus nous la Costoyafmes proche 1 Jsle Jesus il y auoit vne espece de petit rapide que 1 on eull aisement pafse a pied pour aller a cette Jsle enfuitte le Chenail de la riuiere eft spatieux lair beau et paroift vne belle Jsle du coste mont Royal dela 1 on entre dans vne autre grande anfe ou nous trouuafmes des Algonquins Cabannez qui nous firent part de leur chafse ce qui nous feruit le reste de n". Voyage, y ayant du Caftor pour le vendredy ce grand chenail eft termine par vn destroit qui cache vn autre grand
1672 - 74] A UTO UR DE L' ISLE /£S US 119
are many settlements. 6. [i.e., 7.] One league, or thereabout above this first rapid is found a large bay, which seems to be nearly 3-fourths of a league in extent, and to have good land. It is terminated by a Slope, which begins at a point that is a mass of immense and very beautiful Rocks, Extending into the water. This Slope bears a beautiful pine forest, which appears afar off ; and the Cedars are very large and numerous, all along these shores. The Slope has many coves, Bordered by Pebbles and stones, — which even pave the Channel, where are seen many Long, flat stones. We passed the second rapid, near Isle Jesus; and the third near a little Islet, where the force of the current is, which gives considerable trouble to those who are dragging canoes, although they cling to this Islet. The 3rd rapid is one league, or thereabout, above the 2nd. Beyond this, there is a region of rather gloomy, poor, and stony land. Extending a league and a half, or more. There are a few little coves, surrounded by good Land; then one finds a large bay which, with the Shore of mont Royal, represents, as it were, a trefoil or a goose's foot. The lower part is good and beautiful, and the land excellent. It is terminated by an Island which appears to be 10 arpents or more long, and one or two wide, of tolerably good soil; this, being near Isle Jesus, outside of the great channel, ought to belong to Isle Jesus. We Coasted along it, near Isle Jesus; there was a sort of little rapid, which one could easily cross on foot in order to go to this Island. Afterward, the Channel of the river is spacious, the air fine, and a beautiful Island appears off the shore of mont Royal. Beyond, one enters another large bay, where we found some Algonquins
120 LES RELATIONS DES jf:SUITES [Vol.58
chenail, ou anfe qui a vne defcharge dvn pays afsez hault nous auons vifit^ le pays la terre a bien des pierres force noyers estres trambles arables plennes qui font frequentes par toutes ces Coftes. fuit vn grand chenail plus de demi lieiie puis vn grand rapide dans vn grand espace de riuiere qui fait la vn vafle bafsin que font les anfes des deux Coites et fenble fem6 de loing par des Isles, au hault du bafsin la Cofte de mont Royal fait vn grand coude par ou fe destourne le chenail de la riuiere tirant vers Test, nous pafsafmes le rapide proche Mont Royal ou ie defcendis et pafs6 ce rapide enfuitte voyant le bafsin termine par vne grande Ifle nous trauerfafmes le Chenail et ce bafsin pour ne pas quitter la Cofte de 1 Isle Jesus et voir f il y auoit pafsage entre cette Isle et la Cofte le peu d'efpace nous fit Juger que cette Ifle eftoit encor a 1 Jsle de Jesus le chenail eftant plus derrierre eft encor diuife en d autres Jsles apres ces Jsles les deux chenaux fe rencontrans font vne autre efpece de bafsin vers la fin de 1 Isle Jesus ce 4* rapide ne femble pas Efloigne du cinquiefme qui eft presque a 1 extremite du chenail de la riuiere des prairies de plus d'vne lieiie et demie, nous pafsasme le 5^. rapide proche 1 Isle Jefus enfuitte nous montaf- mes 1 embouchure du lac des deux Montagnes que Ton voit de loing terminer le chenail de n""^ Riuiere mais qui en font Eloignez de plus de 8 lieiies de trauerfe, cela nous fit Juger que nous eftions au bout de 1 Jsle Jesus qui de fon extremity regarde le lac des deux Montagnes qui fort la et fenble paral[le]le au Coing de Mont Royal qui commence vis a vis de 1 embou- [c]hure de la riuiere des Prairies vne autre Coste qvi
1672-74] AUTOUR DE L'ISLE /£SUS 121
Encamped, who shared with us their game ; this served us during the rest of our Journey, furnishing us with Beaver for friday. This great channel is terminated by a strait, which conceals another great channel, or bay; the latter receives the waters from a country quite far up. We visited the country; the land is very stony, but has many walnut-trees, beeches, aspens, and red maples, which are numerous along all these Shores. Then follows a wide channel for more than half a league, then a great rapid in a broad space in the river, which there forms a vast basin, made by the bays in the two Shores; and this seems to be sprinkled with Islands in the far distance. Above the basin, the Shore of mont Royal forms a great bend, where the channel of the river turns toward the east. We passed the rapids near Mont Royal, where I disembarked and passed those rapids. Then, seeing the basin end in a large Island, we crossed the Channel and this basin, in order not to leave the Shore of Isle Jesus, and to see if there was any passage between this Island and the Shore. The narrow space made us Think that this Island was still a part of Isle de Jesus, the channel being farther back, and still interspersed with other Islands. After these Islands, the two channels meeting form another sort of basin, toward the end of Isle Jesus. The 4th rapid does not seem far Distant from the fifth, which is almost at the end of the channel of the river des prairies, being more than a league and a half. We passed the 5th rapid near Isle Jesus. Then we went up into the entrance to the lake of the two Mountains; these heights are seen at a distance, ending the channel of our River, but they are Separated from it by a space of more than
122 LES RELATIONS DES JASUITES [Vol.58
va ail fud fudouest et regarde la largeur du lac des deux Montagnes, nous Cabannafmes a la pointe de 1 Jsle Jefus dans vn Cabannage Algonquin que nous trouuafmes fait, nous auions difn6 au lieu ou nous vifitafmes la terre dans vn coing de cette anfe ou J ay dit qu'il paroifsoit vne defcharge nous cou- chafmes a la pointe del' Jsle Jefus ceftoit le mercre- di 26^ auquel je dis la fte Mefse au Cabannage fur le 3* rapide et fur le dos de nre Canot dans le bois, le Jeudy 27* matin ie la dis au pied d'vn grand Cedre fur des perches nous auions eu la pluye fort meniie toute la nuict elle continua presque tout le Jour ce qui nous arresta mais ayant veu vne petite Jntermif- sion fur les deux heures apres midy je fis diligence pour vifiter 1 autre Cofte de la pointe de 1 Jsle Jesus nous pafsasmes vn violent rapide qui [eft] entre des Jsles et 1 Jsle Jesus du Cofte de Loueft nous trou- uasmes des terres fort pierreuses et plus bas terres fort noyees et meilees d Isles que Ton appelle les mil Jsles la nuict et la pluye nous obligerent a retour- ner et cabanner d ou nous venions le vendredy de grand matin nous passafmes le lac des 2. montagnes entrafmes le lac ft. Louis, ie dis la messe proche la pointe de I'anfe de I'lfle Perrot ou est Baftie fa mai- fon cette pointe eft dans le lac ft Louis vis a vis des Jlloyes dont vne f appelle I'Jfle aux Cheures a caufe des cheures que Ton y a mifes que nous y vismes broufter, Je dis la mefse fur le marbre blanc naturel dans cette pointe et y fifmes bonne chaudier6 enfuitte defcendismes et pafsasmes le fault ft Louis le foleil couche et d'vn temps fort obfcur afin de pouuoir estre icy pour Samedy Jour ft Michel,
1672 - 741 A UTO UR DE L' ISLE /£SUS 123
8 leagues. ^^ That made us Judge that we were at the end of Isle Jesus, the extremity of which faces the lake of the two Mountains, which opens there and seems parallel with the Comer of Mont Royal; this begins, opposite the entrance to the river des Prairies, another Shore which extends to the south- southwest and faces the width of the lake of the two Mountains. We Encamped at the point of Isle Jesus, in an Algonquin Camp that we found there. We had dined in the place where we visited the land, in a corner of that bay where, as I have said, there seemed to be a discharge of water. We slept at the extremity of Isle Jesus. It was Wednesday, the 26th, when I said holy Mass in our Camp at the 3rd rapid, upon the bottom of our Canoe, in the woods. On the morning of Thursday, the 27th, I said it at the foot of a great Cedar, upon some poles. A driz- zling rain fell all night and continued nearly all Day, which delayed us. But having a little Intermission, about two o'clock in the afternoon, I hastened to visit the other Side of the point of Isle Jesus. We passed a violent rapid which flows between some Islands and The western Shore of Isle Jesus. We found very rocky soil; and, farther down, the land was inundated, and mingled with Islands, which are called "the thousand Islands." Night and the rain compelled us to return, and to encamp at the place whence we had come. Early friday morning we passed the lake of the 2 mountains and entered lake st. Louis. I said mass near the point of the bay of Isle Perrot, where Monsieur Perrot's house is Built. ^^ This point is in the lake st. Louis, opposite some Islets, one of which is called Isle aux Chevres, on account of the goats which have been
124 LES RELA TIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol. 58
quand on veut faire ces visites plus Exactement et entieres Jl fault plus de temps et ne pas tant fe hafler li v'"'^. R'^'=. en defir6 d autres Je macquitteray de tout le mieux quil me fera poffible qu[o]iqu*au refus des autres et mefmes que n*"^. frere tefmoignaft a nos canotteurs que c estoit luy qvi m'enuoyoit Je me recommande a S* SS. de V*^* R*^ tout obeifsant
Dalmas S.J.
1672-74] AUTOUR DE VISLE J^SUS 125
put there, and which we saw browsing. I said mass upon the natural white marble of this point, and there we had a good meal. Then we descended the river, and passed sault st. Louis after sunset, and in great darkness, in order that we might be here for Saturday, st. Michael's Day. If it be desired to make these visits more Accurate and complete, more time is needed, and not so much haste. If your Reverence desire others to be made, I will perform the task as well as I possibly can, — even if others should refuse, and even if our brother should assert to our canoemen that it was he who sent me. I commend myself to Your Reverence's Holy Sacri- fices. Very obediently,
Dalmas, S.J.^^
CXXXIII
Relation of 1673-74
SOURCE: We obtain this document mainly from Dou- niol's Relations incites, t. i., pp. 219-283, 295-318.
The greater part of the Relation is given in the present volume, the remainder being reserved for Volume LIX.
RELATION
DE CE QUI S'EST PASSE
DE PLUS REMARQUABLE
aux missions des Peres
de la Compagnie de Jesus,
EN LA
NOUVELLE-FRANCE
PENDANT LES ANNEES 1673 et 1674.
Envoyee par le R. P. Claude Dablon,
Superieur general de
ces missions,
Au R. P. Etienne de Champs, Provincial
de la meme Compagnie en la
province de France.
RELATION
OF WHAT OCCURRED
MOST REMARKABLE
in the missions of the Fathers
of the Society of Jesus,
IN
NEW FRANCE,
DURING THE YEARS 1673 and 1674;
Sent by the Reverend Father Claude
Dablon, Superior-general of
those missions,
To the Reverend Father EtieNNE DE ChamPS,
Provincial of the same Society in the
province of France.
130 LES RELATIONS DES JASUITES [Vol.58
De La Mission Huronne de nostre Damede Foy
appellee a present La mission de
notre dame de Laurette.
CETTE mission s'augmentant tous les jours, soit par les recrues qui nous viennent du pays des Iroquois, soit par la benediction que Dieu donne aux families huronnes pour les repeupler, nous avons €t€ obliges de retirer nos Sauvages de Notre- Dame de Foye, ou ils manquaient de terre et de bois, pour les placer une lieue et demie plus loin de Quebec. Nous avons donn6 le nom de Lorette k leur nouveau bourg, k cause de la chapelle que nous y avons fait batir sur le module et sous le nom de la Sainte-Maison de Lorette.
Ce nouvel 6tablissement ayant commence sur la fin de I'annee 1673, nous considererons cette Mission depuis ce temps-Ik jusqu'au commencement de Tan- nic 1675. Nous dirons d'abord ce qui s'est egale- ment passe dans I'un et I'autre de ces deux bourgs; nous rapporterons ensuite ce qui est arriv6 de plus considerable h. Notre- Dame de Foye, ou nos Sauvages ont encore ete obliges de venir pour ensemencer leurs champs et faire leur r^colte. Enfin nous marquerons bri^vement ce qui s'est fait &, notre nouvelle Lorette.
I. DE LA MISSION DES HURONS CONSIDEREE EN
GENERAL SOIT A N.-D. DE FOYE, SOIT
A N.-D. DE LORETTE.
CETTE Mission renfermait dejk plus de deux cent dix Chretiens lorsque le P. Chaumonot et le P. Bouvart, qui en ^taient charges, ont eu, dans I'espace
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 - 74 131
Of The Huron Mission of nostre Dame de Foy,
now called The mission of notre
dame de Laurette.
AS this mission increases daily, — either through the recruits that come to us from the Iroquois country, or through God's blessing upon the Huron families in multiplying them anew, — we have been obliged to remove our Savages from Notre Dame de Foye, where they were in need of land and wood, to place them a league and a half farther from Quebec. We have given the name of Lorette to their new village, because of the chapel we have built there on the model and under the name of the Holy House of Loretto.^^
As this new establishment was begun about the end of the year 1673, we will consider this Mission from that time to the beginning of the year 1675. We will first mention what happened at the same time in both these villages; and afterward relate the most important events that occurred at Notre Dame de Foye, where our Savages were still com- pelled to go, to sow their fields and gather their crops. Finally, we shall briefly indicate what has happened at our new Lorette.
I. OF THE HURON MISSION CONSIDERED IN GENERAL,
EITHER AT NOTRE DAME DE FOYE OR AT
NOTRE DAME DE LORETTE.
THIS Mission already contained over two hundred and ten Christians when Father Chaumonot and Father Bouvart,~° who had charge of it, had in the
132 LES RELA TIONS DES J ^SUITES [Vol. 58
de quinze mois, la consolation d'y baptiser cinquante- deux personnes, savoir : vingt-sept enfants et vingt- cinq adultes, qui, except^ deux ou trois, font tous paraitre une ferveur comparable ^ celle des fideles de la primitive Eglise.
Comme ces n^ophites sont Iroquois pour la plu- part, la charity que nos Hurons, tout pauvres qu'ils sont eux-memes, ont montre k les vetir, k les loger, k les nourrir, et meme ^ les adopter, est d'autant plus pure et plus h^roique, qu'ils ont re9U plus de mau- vais traitements de cette nation. Ceux qui portent encore sur leur corps les marques des coups de ces anciens ennemis, ont 6t6 les plus charitables en leur endroit. Temoin Pierre Andahiacon qui, ayant plusieurs de ses doigts manges par les Iroquois, n'a pas laiss6 d'en adopter un, sa femme et deux enfants, qu'il a log6s et nourris pendant cinq ou six mois, et auxquels il a donne, entre autres chovses, une grande peau d'orignal et une belle robe de castor.
De meme, une nommee Marie-Th^rese Oiiaronha a donn6 jusqu'^ sa propre couverture ^ une femme iroquoise, qui fut baptis6e cet ete. II y a des femmes devotes qui ont soin de nous cacher les liberalites qu'elles leur font, afin d'en avoir de Dieu la recom- pense tout entiere.
Marie Oiiendraka, entre autres, leur a ainsi donn6 plusieurs minots de ble d'Inde.
La charite de nos Hurons n'a pas ^te moins lib6- rale envers les Frangais de ce pays. Comme il y a eu ici cet 6t6 une grande cherte de bl6, ils en ont donn6 plus de cent minots aux pauvres Fran9ais, qu'ils conduisaient eux-memes par les cabanes pour leur faire obtenir une bonne aumone. Fran9ois
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 -74 133
Space of fifteen months the consolation of baptizing fifty-two persons there, namely: twenty-seven chil- dren, and twenty-five adults, who, with the excep- tion of two or three, all manifest a fervor comparable to that of the faithful of the primitive Church.
As these neophytes are mostly Iroquois, the char- ity displayed by our Hurons, poor as they are, in clothing, lodging, feeding, and even adopting them, is all the purer and all the more heroic that they have been most cruelly treated by that nation. Those who still bear on their bodies the marks of the blows given by their former enemies have been the most charitable toward these. Witness Pierre Andahiacon, who, although he had several of his fingers eaten by the Iroquois, nevertheless adopted one of that nation, with his wife and two children; all these he lodged and fed for five or six months and gave to them, among other things, a large moose-skin and a fine robe of beaver-skins.
In the same way, one named Marie Therese Oua- ronha gave her own blanket to an Iroquois woman who was baptized this summer. There are devout women who are careful to conceal their liberality from us, in order that God may reward it in full.
Thus Marie Ouendraka, among others, gave them several minots of Indian corn.
The charity of our Hurons has been no less liberal toward the French of this country. As corn was very dear this year, they have given over a hundred minots of it to the poor French, whom they them- selves led through the cabins to enable them to obtain generous alms. Frangois Hotachetak dis- tinguished himself in this work of mercy; and Hel^ne Andotrahan even surpassed him, by giving
134 LES RELATIONS DES J&SUITES [Vol.58
Hotachetak s'est signal*^ dans cet exercice de mis6ri- corde, et H615ne Andotrahan I'a encore surpass^ en leur donnant jusqu'k la dernifere caisse de son bid. La charity qu'ils exercent continuellement entre eux approche de la charity des premiers Chretiens, puisque s'ils possMent les choses en propre, ils agissent comme s'ils n'avaient rien qu'en commun. Car, sans parler des presents et des festins, qu'ils se font annuellement apr^s leur chasse ou leur peche, lorsqu'il a fallu, ou transporter leurs grains et leurs meubles de Notre- Dame de Foye ^ Notre- Dame de Lorette, ou cultiver les champs qu'ils ont dans ces deux endroits, ils se sont tous entr'aidds en travail- lant pour une famille et puis pourl'autre; et parce que c'est de Dieu particulierement qu'ils attendent la recompense de leur charite, ils I'ont etendue aussi bien sur les malades, les faibles et les absents, que sur ceux qui etaient presents et qui se portaient bien.
Leur piet6 ne cede en rien a leur charite, et ce n'est pas seulement dans I'eglise qu'elle parait, mais aussi dans leurs travaux et dans leurs voyages. lis commencent, ils finissent et ils interrompent meme de temps en temps leur travail par diverses priferes qu'ils font k genoux devant une grande croix, ou tournes vers leur chapelle. Ces prieres finies, Louis Thaondechoren, leur bon dogique, pour entretenir leur ferveur pendant qu'ils travaillent, leur suggere tout haut quelques bonnes pensees, et leur fait faire divers actes de vertu.
Dans leurs voyages, on ne les rencontre presque jamais qu'ils ne soient occupds k prier Dieu. Un des principaux du pays, qui les rencontre souvent en allant k sa terre, disait dernierement dans une bonne
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them her last chest of corn. The charity that they continually practice among themselves resembles the charity of the early Christians; for, if they possess anything of their own, they act as if they had nothing that is not in common. Thus, — to say nothing of the presents and feasts that they give one another annually, after their hunting or fishing, — when it was necessary to convey their grain and their effects from Notre Dame de Foye to Notre Dame de Lorette, or to cultivate the fields that they have in both those places, they assisted one another, by working first for one family and then for another. And because they expect the reward of their charity from God especially, they also extended it to the sick, the feeble, and the absent, as well as to those who were present and in good health.
Their piety is in no respect behind their charity, and manifests itself not only in the church, but also in their labors and on their journeys. They begin, they conclude, and they even interrupt their work, from time to time, with various prayers, which they recite on their knees before a large cross, or turned toward their chapel. When these prayers are ended, Louis Thaondechoren, their good dogique, in order to maintain their fervor while they work, suggests aloud some pious thoughts to them, and causes them to make some acts of virtue.
On their journeys, one hardly meets them with- out finding them engaged in praying to God. One of the principal men of the country who comes upon them often, on his way to his farm, lately said in a large company, that the Savages shamed the French. " In fact," he added, " where can we find among ourselves persons who perform journeys with rosary
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compagnie que les Sauvages faisaient honte aux Franjais. « En effet, ajoutait-il, ou trouver parmi nous des personnes qui fassent leur voyage le chape- let ^ la main, pour le dire continuellement, et qui n'interrompent leurs prieres que pour faire prier et pour instruire les enfants qu'ils portent sur leur dos? C'est ce que je vois presque tous les jours de mes propres yeux, et ce qui me donne de 1' admira- tion de leur Foi, et de la confusion de notre lachete. » Mais disons plus en particulier ce qui s'est passe de remarquable an bourg de Notre- Dame de Foye, avant que nos Sauvages aient pu le quitter, et ensuite nous marquerons brievement ce qui est arrive en celui de notre nouvelle Lorette.
II. DE LA MISSION HURONNE A N.-D. DE FOYE.
ON a parle suffisamment, dans les relations pr6ce- dentes, du bon ordre et de la ferveur qui regnent en cette Mission; nous nous contenterons ici de citer deux ou trois traits de vertu de nos bons Sauvages.
Vers la fete de la Toussaint de I'annee 1673, les chemins etant tres-mauvais, et les Peres charges de cette Mission, demeurant pour lors a Sillery, qui est k une demi-lieue de Notre-Dame de Foye, avaient bien de la peine a s'y rendre, comme ils y etaient souvent obliges plusieurs fois par jour. Pierre Andahiacon, un de nos braves capitaines, et Jeanne Asenragehaon, sa femme, la premiere de toutes nos chretiennes en esprit, en ferveur et en Constance, ayant fait reflexion sur la difficulte des chemins, allerent secretement et d'eux-memes les raccom- moder ou ils 6taient en plus mauvais 6tat.
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in hand, saying it continually; and who only inter- rupt their prayers to make the children pray whom they carry on their backs, and to instruct them? This is what I see nearly every day with my own eyes; and it inspires me with admiration for their Faith, and with shame for our faint-heartedness."
But let us relate in greater detail the most remark- able events that occurred in the village of Notre Dame de Foye before our Savages were able to leave it; and afterward we shall briefly describe what happened in that of our new Loretto.
II. OF THE HURON MISSION AT NOTRE DAME DE FOYE.
ENOUGH has been said in previous relations of the good order and fervor that prevail in this Mission ; we shall content ourselves with mentioning here two or three instances of the virtue of our good Savages.
About All Saints' day in the year 1673, the roads were very bad, and the Fathers in charge of this Mission — who then resided at Sillery, half a league from Notre Dame de Foye — experienced much diiffi- culty in going thither, as they were frequently obliged to do several times a day. Pierre Andahia- con, one of our worthy captains, and Jeanne Asen- rag^haon, his wife, — the chief of all our Christian women in intelligence, fervor, and constancy, reflected upon the difficulty of the roads, and went secretly, and of their own accord, to mend them at the worst spots.
The missionaries met them, and asked them what had led them to undertake this work. They replied : " We thought that, if our Fathers take so much
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Les missionnaires, les ayant rencontres, leur demand^rent qui les avait port^s k ce travail. lis r^pondirent: « Nous avons pens6 que, si nos Pferes prennent tous les jours tant de peine pour nous venir preparer le chemin du ciel, c'est bien la moindre chose que nous allions leur preparer le chemin de notre bourg.»
Le second exemple que nous rapporterons est pris d'une famille de benediction. Les chefs en sont Hotachetak, dont nous avons d^j^ parl6 plus haut, et Catherine T^ouach^gnien sa femme, qu'on pent justement surnommer I'aumoniere, ^ cause de sa liberality envers les pauvres. Entre autres enfants, lis ont une fille, ag6e de vingt-trois ans environ, tres- bien faite pour une Sauvagesse, et si chaste, qu'il y a quelque temps, un jeune homme, ayant prononc6 devant elle plusieurs mauvaises paroles, elle alia tout eplor^e trouver le missionnaire pour s'en plaindre; elle ne pensait pas avoir jamais donn^ lieu, par sa <ionduite, a etre trait^e de la sorte. Le Pfere, I'ayant rassur^e, la renvoya toute consol6e. Cette jeune Sauvage, appelee Marguerite Egandarekoiii, s'est marine k un homme de sa nation, nomm6 Jacques Ontagannahoche, qui lui a laiss6 trois enfants, un gar^on et deux filles, dont la plus jeune est n6e aprfes la mort de son pere. II y eut un an, ^ la presenta- tion de Notre-Dame, que Ontagannahoch^, 6tant d6ja attaqu6 de la maladie qui I'a conduit au tombeau, sa femme lui rapporta ce que le P. Chaumonot avait dit, dans son sermon, du sacrifice que saint Joachim et sainte Anne avaient fait de leur fille unique, la bienheureuse Vierge Marie. Cet exemple le toucha, •et, de concert avec sa femme, il prit la resolution de
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trouble every day to come and prepare the road to heaven for us, the least that we can do is to prepare the road to our village for them."
The second example which we shall relate is taken from a family remarkable for its blessings. Its heads are Hotachetak of whom we have already spoken, and Catherine Teouach^gnien, his wife, — who may rightly be surnamed " the almoner," on account of her liberality to the poor. They have, among other children, a daughter, about twenty- three years of age, — very well trained for a Savage, and so chaste that, some time ago, when a young man uttered some wicked words in her presence, she went in tears to the missionary to complain of him. She thought that she had never deserved by her conduct to be treated in such a manner. The Father reassured her, and sent her away quite consoled. This young Savage, whose name is Marguerite Egandarekoui, was married to a man of her own nation, named Jacques Ontagannahoch^, who left her three children, a boy and two girls, — the younger of whom was born after her father's death. A year ago, on the feast of the presentation of Our Lady, while Ontagannahoche was already suffering from the disease that carried him to his grave, his wife told him what Father Chaumonot had said in his sermon about the sacrifice that saint Joachim and saint Anne had made of their only daughter, the blessed Virgin Mary. This example touched him, and, in concert with his wife, he resolved to offer to God in the same manner their daughter, Marie Anne Garihonnentha. They informed her of their design, and the child, who was then only four and a half
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presenter de meme k Dieu leur fille Marie-Anne Garihonnentha. lis lui d^clarent leur dessein, et cette enfant, ag6e pour lors de quatre ans et demi seulement, y consentit avec autant de joie et de ferveur qu'eiit put le faire une grande personne qui aurait une vocation bien d^cid^e ^ la vie religieuse. Le P. Chaumonot est ensuite appel6, et on lui met I'enfant entre les mains, en le priant de la conduire chez les Ursulines, afin qu'apres y avoir €l€ 61evee en quality de pensionnaire, elle y soit re9ue reli- gieuse, si Notre-Seigneur lui en conserve la volont6. Pour eux, ajoutaient-ils, ils faisaient ^ Dieu un entier sacrifice de cette fille, leur ain^e et leur unique, qu'ils aimaient plus qu'eux-memes.
Le missionnaire, qui voulait les eprouver, leur r^pondit d'abord qu'il penserait k cette affaire. Mais le pere de I'enfant ne se contenta pas de cette r^ponse; et, avant de mourir, il Ten chargea encore tr^s-particulierement, en protestant que ce serait le missionnaire qui en r^pondrait, si sa fille, lui ayant 6t6 confine, n'6tait pas entierement devou6e ^ Dieu, ^ qui sa femme et lui I'avaient presentee et la pr^sentaient encore.
Ce pieux malade re9ut ensuite les derniers sacre- ments avec beaucoup de devotion, et mourut tres- chr^tiennement, le 25 d^cembre de I'an 1673; de sorte que nous avons sujet de croire que Dieu lui a fait la grace de naitre au ciel le meme jour qu'il est n6 sur la terre pour notre amour. Sa veuve n'oublia rien de tout ce qu'elle devait k son mari, et, ne se contentant pas de ses propres prieres, elle fit des aumones de bl6 et de porcelaine, afin que Ton priat Dieu pour le repos de son ame. II n'y eut pas
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years old, consented to it, — with as much joy and fervor as an adult person could have done who had a decided vocation for a religious life. Father Chau- monot was afterward summoned and the child was placed in his hands, with a request that he would take her to the Ursulines, in order that, after being brought up as a boarder, she might be admitted as a nun, if Our Lord maintained her in that inten- tion. For their part, they added, they offered as a complete sacrifice to God this their eldest child and only daughter, whom they loved better than themselves.
The missionary, who wished to try them, replied at first that he would think the matter over; but the child's father was not satisfied with this answer, and, before dying, he again particularly charged him to execute his will,— protesting that the missionary would be responsible if his daughter, who was con- fided to him, was not wholly devoted to God, to whom his wife and he had offered and still offered her.
The pious sick man afterward received the last sacraments with great devotion, and died in a very Christian manner on the 25th of December of the year 1673. We have, accordingly, reason to believe that God granted him the grace of being bom anew in heaven on the same day when he himself was born on earth through love of us. His widow omitted nothing that she owed to her husband's memory; and, not content with her own prayers, she gave alms of corn and porcelain beads to obtain prayers to God, for the repose of his soul. Even little Marie Anne, on being informed of her father's death, asked for a rosary, and went to recite the
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jusqu'^ la petite Marie- Anne, qui, ^tant avertie de la mort de son p^re, demanda un chapelet, et alia le dire tout entier dans la chapelle de Notre-Dame de Foye. Depuis ce temps-Ik, elle et sa mfere nous pressent presque continuellement de la faire recevoir au s^minaire des R^v^rendes Mferes Ursulines; et parce que M. le comte de Frontenac, notre gouver- neur, y nourrit depuis quelque temps de petites Sauvagesses, elles se pr^senterent toutes deux k lui, lorsque, dernierement, il vint faire ses devotions "k Notre-Dame de Lorette. Elles lui demanderent une place chez les religieuses. Ayant repondu qu'k I'ar- riv^e des vaisseaux il verrait ce qu'il pourrait faire en leur faveur, elles ne furent pas encore tout k fait contentes. Ainsi un des P^res de leur Mission etant all6 k Quebec, elles vinrent I'y trouver par un tres- mauvais temps, et le prierent de les mener aux Ursulines.
La R6v6rende Mere de Saint-Athanase, sup6rieure, qui €tait malade, envoya d'abord au parloir plusieurs de ses religieuses ; mais celles-ci lui ayant rendu un compte tres-avantageux de notre petite Huron ne, elle vint elle-meme recevoir I'enfant qu'on lui pr^- sentait. L'ayant vue, elle fut ravie de sa modestie, de ses r6ponses, comme aussi de la beaut6 de la voix et de toute la conduite de la petite Marie-Anne, qui n'avait que cinq ans et demi. Elle I'eut dfes lors retenue, si M. le gouverneur n'eut promis de la mettre, I'^t^ prochain, dans leur s6minaire. Elle ajouta meme que, s'il 6tait empech6 de garder sa parole, elle la recevait dejk pour ce temps-Ik. Pour gage de sa promesse, elle lui fit quelques presents et I'adopta pour sa fille, k la maniere des Sauvages.
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whole of it in the chapel of Notre Dame de Foye. Since that time, she and her mother continually urge us to have her admitted into the seminary of the Reverend Ursuline Mothers; and, because Monsieur the count de Frontenac, our governor, has for some time kept little Savage girls there, they both pre- sented themselves before him when he came, quit& recently, to perform his devotions at Notre Dame de Lorette. They asked him for a place with the nuns. When he replied that on the arrival of the ships he would see what he could do on their behalf, they were not yet quite satisfied. Therefore, when one of the Fathers of their Mission went to Quebec, they came to him during very bad weather, and begged him to take them to the Ursulines'.
The Reverend Mother de Saint Athanase, the superioress, who was ill, sent several of her nuns to the parlor, at first ; but as the latter gave her a very favorable account of our little Huron girl, she her- self came to receive the child that was presented to her. On seeing her, she was delighted with her modesty and her answers, as well as with the beau- tiful voice and the entire conduct of little Marie Anne, whose age was only five years and a half. She would have kept her from that time, had not Mon- sieur the governor promised to place the child in their seminary the following summer. She even added that, if he were unable to keep his word, she would admit her at that time. As a pledge of her promise she gave her some presents, and adopted her as her daughter, according to the custom of the Savages. The mother and child, well pleased at the evidences of affection given them by the nuns, await the time for her admission. The grandfather,.
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La m^re et 1 'enfant, bien contentes des marques d'affection que leur ont donn6es les religieuses, attendent le temps de la reception. Le grand-pere, la grand'm^re et les autres parents de la petite Marie- Anne, sont dans les memes sentiments pour le sacri- fice qu'ils en veulent faire. Toutes ces circonstances nous donnent sujet de croire qu'il y a quelque chose de surnaturel dans cette vocation, vu la tendresse -extreme qu'ont naturellement les Sauvages pour leurs enfants.
Au printemps de I'annee 1674, il mourut ^ Notre- Dame de Foye un jeune homme nomm^ Zacharie Aoiienion, qui, pendant un an entier qu'a dur6 sa maladie, a montr6 une patience et une resignation parfaites. II s'est approche des sacrements, qu'il venait recevoir k I'^glise, aussi souvent que son mal a pu le lui permettre. Deux jours avant sa mort, son confesseur I'etant alle visiter, il lui temoigna qu'il avait dessein de faire une confession g^n^rale •de toute sa vie. Le P^re approuva ce pieux d^sir avec d'autant plus de joie que cette pratique a et^ jusqu'ici plus rare parmi les Sauvages. Le malade se confessa done avec beaucoup d' exactitude et de contrition, et voulut, apres avoir imit6 la Madeleine dans sa penitence, imiter I'humilite du Centenier dans sa communion; car, ne s'estimant pas digne •que Notre-Seigneur vint chez lui, il se fit porter ^ I'eglise pour y recevoir le saint viatique. II re9ut ensuite I'extreme-onction avec la meme devotion •qu'il avait fait paraitre en communiant.
Les anciens et les plus fervents ^tant venus le soir pour le veiller, selon leur coutume, ils lui sugg6- jrerent d'abord plusieurs actes de diverses vertus, et ils
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 - 74 145
grandmother, and other relatives of little Marie Anne are of the same opinion with reference to the sacrifice that they wish to make. All these circum- stances give us reason to believe that there is some- thing supernatural in this vocation, considering the exceedingly great fondness that the Savages naturally have for their children.
In the spring of the year 1674 there died at Notre Dame de Foye a young man named Zacharie Aoue- nion, who, during the whole year while his illness lasted, displayed perfect patience and resignation. He received the sacraments in the church, whither he came for the purpose, as often as his sickness permitted. Two days before his death, when his confessor went to visit him, he informed him that he wished to make a general confession of his whole life. The Father approved this pious desire, — -with all the more joy, since this practice has hitherto been all the rarer among the Savages. The sick man therefore confessed himself with great accuracy and contrition, and chose, after imitating the Magdalen in her penance, to imitate the humility of the Cen- turion in his communion ; for, not deeming himself worthy that Our Lord should enter his dwelling, he caused himself to be conveyed to the church, to receive the holy viaticum there. He afterward received extreme unction, with the same devotion that he had displayed in receiving communion.
The elders and the more fervent Christians came at night to sit up with him, according to their cus- tom ; they suggested to him many acts of the various virtues, and conversed with him at some length on spiritual matters. They asked him whether he
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Tentretinrent assez longtemps de choses spirituelles. Puis, ils lui demand^rent s'il n'agr66rait pas qu'ils parlassent de qnelque autre sujet indifferent, afin de ne le pas trop fatiguer. « Non, leur dit-il; conti- nuez, je vous prie, de raconter des histoires saintes et de parler de Dieu ; je prends plaisir ^ vous entendre. » Enfin, se sentant plus faible, il baisa d6votement le crucifix, et, pronon9ant les noms de J6sus, de Marie et de Joseph, il expira doucement.
III. DE LA MISSION HURONNE A N.-D. DE LO-
RETTE.
NOS Sauvages ^tant, comme nous avons dit, dans la necessity de changer de bourg, ils n'ont point trouv6 de lieu plus propre sur toutes nos terres qu'k une lieue et demie de Notre- Dame de Foye et ^ trois de Quebec. La puret6 de I'air, I'egalite du terrain, la bont6 et la commodity des eaux, en rendent le sejour un des plus agreables de ce pays. Des I'ete de I'annee 1673, pendant qu'^ neuf ou dix lieues de 1^ nous faisions faire de la brique pour batir la cbapelle, nos Sauvages dresserent k la hate douze ou treize cabanes pour y passer I'hiver. Mais avant de quitter Notre- Dame de Foye, ils sont tous alles en pelerinage k Sillery, y faire une communion g6n6rale et un vceu public en I'honneur de saint Michel, patron de ce lieu. lis ont presente k ce glorieux archange un collier de porcelaine pour obtenir par son intercession leur heureux ^tablissement dans le nouveau bourg de Lorette. A peine y ont-ils 6t6 loges qu'ils ont fait un autre voeu et une autre communion ^ I'honneur de sainte Anne, a qui ils offrirent aussi un collier de porcelaine pour lui demander la grace de
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 - 74 147
would not consent to their speaking of some other indifferent subject, so as not to fatigue him too much. "No," he said, "continue, I beg, to relate holy stories and to speak of God ; I take pleasure in hearing you." At last, feeling that he was growing weaker, he devoutly kissed the crucifix, and gently expired while pronouncing the names of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
III. OF THE HURON MISSION AT NOTRE DAME DE
LORETTE.
OUR Savages, being under the necessity, as we have seen, of moving their village, found no other place more suitable on all our lands than at a league and a half from Notre Dame de Foye, and three from Quebec. The purity of the air, the level surface of the land, and the goodness and convenience of the water-supply, render it one of the most agree- able dwelling-places in this country. As early as the summer of 1673, while we were having made, nine or ten leagues from there, the bricks wherewith the chapel was to be built, our Savages hastily erected twelve or thirteen cabins, in which to pass the winter at that place. But, before leaving Notre Dame de Foye, they all went on a pilgrimage to Sillery for a general communion, and to make a public vow in honor of saint Michael, the patron of that place. They presented a collar of porcelain beads to that glorious archangel, to obtain through his intercession a successful establishment in the new village of Lorette. They were hardly lodged there when they made another vow and another communion in honor of saint Anne. To her they likewise offered a collar
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voir bientot au milieu de leur bourg la maison de la Sainte Vierge, sa fille, batie sur le modMe et sous le nom de celle qu'elle lui avail laiss6e ^ Nazareth, et que les anges out transportde ^ Lorette en Italie.
Comme nos Hurons n'avaient pas encore de cha- pelle ^ leur nouveau bourg, ou lis s'^taient transpor- tes le 27 d^cembre de I'annee 1673, le P. Chaumonot demanda publiquement si quelqu'un pouvait preter la moiti6 de sa cabane pour en faire un oratoire et y dresser un autel. Tout aussitot Fran9ois Athori- cher, qui s'est montr6 un des plus fervents pour leur •etablissement k Lorette, et sa soeur, la bonne Marie Oiiendraka, vinrent nous presser de prendre leur cabane tout enti^re, en disant que Dieu m^ritait bien d' avoir un logis entier ^ lui seul. Leur off re accep- t^e, pendant dix mois et plus, nous y avons dit la sainte messe, et exerce assez commod^ment toutes nos autres f onctions.
Pour eux, ils arrangerent tout pres de Ik quelques mechantes 6corces, sous lesquelles toute leur famille se logea avec beaucoup d'incommodit^s et du froid et de la fum^e.
Ouelque temps apres, le plan de la chapelle et des cabanes qui devaient se batir I'^t^ suivant ^tant dress^, on demanda dans une conference spirituelle, comment il pourrait se faire que le nouveau bourg de Lorette fut v6ritablement le bourg de la Sainte Vierge. Notre dogique, Louis Thaond^choren fit un discours plein d' esprit et de solidity ; en rappor- tant entre autres choses ce qu'il avait entendu de la N.-D. de Lorette d' Italie, il dit qu'il lui semblait que toutes leurs cabanes, qu'il voyait dispos6es autour de la chapelle lui repr^sentaient le grand temple qui
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of porcelain beads, to ask from her the grace of seeing before long, in the middle of their village, the house of the Blessed Virgin, her daughter, — built on the model and under the name of that which she had left to her at Nazareth, and which the angels transported to Loretto in Italy.
As our Hurons had not yet any chapel in their new village, whither they had removed on the 27th of December of the year 1673, Father Chaumonot pub- licly asked whether some one would not lend half his cabin for an oratory, in which an altar might be erected. Immediately Francois Athoricher — who has shown himself to be one of the most eager for their establishment at Lorette — and his sister, the good Marie Ouendraka, came to urge us to take the whole of their cabin, saying that God certainly deserved to have an entire lodging for himself. Their offer was accepted, and for ten months, and more, we said holy mass in their cabin, and per- formed all our duties in comfort there.
For themselves they erected, in close proximity, a wretched bark hut, in which the whole of their family lodged, suffering great inconvenience from cold and from smoke.
Some time afterward, the plan of the chapel, and of the cabins that were to be erected the following summer, was drawn up ; ^^ and in a spiritual confer- ence it was asked how the new village of Lorette could really be made the village of the Blessed Virgin. Our dogique, Louis Thaond^choren, deliv- ered a very sensible and solid discourse. While relating, among other things, what he had heard of Our Lady of Loretto in Italy, he said that it seemed
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renferme la sacr^e maison de Lorette, qu'ainsi ils devaient consid6rer tout leur village comme une grande 6glise dont chaque cabane faisait autant de diff^rentes parties. D'ou il conclut que les pferes et les meres de famille devaient se regarder dans leur maison comme dans autant de postes et de places que Marie a confines ^ leur fidelite pour les d^fendre contre les ennemis, qui sont les p6ch6s, nomm6ment ceux de I'ivrognerie et de I'impuret^. «Ainsi, dit-il en finissant, notre bourg sera v^ritablement le bourg de Marie pendant qu'aucun vice ne lui en disputera la possession et la souverainete. »
Qu'il serait h. souhaiter pour le bon r^glement des families chr^tiennes qu'on entrat dans la pens^e de ce fervent Sauvage, qui tout infirme et tout malade qu'il est depuis un an et demi, vit dans un contente- ment d'esprit et dans un detachement de la vie qui sont admirables !
Sa resignation me fait souvenir d'une certaine veuve qui se nomme Jeanne Atsigoiiendia. Un jour que sa petite fille 6tait alMe au bois avec une de ses cousines, on lui vint dire que celle-ci avait tu6 1' autre d'un coup de hache qu'elle lui avait donn6 par me- garde. A cette nouvelle, cette genereuse et devote grand'mere s'adressa ^ la Sainte Vierge et lui fit cette pri^re: «Vous ne m'eutes pas plus tot donn^ cette enfant que je vous I'ofifris. Voilk que vous me I'otez aujourd'hui. Quoique sa perte me soit tres- sensible, que votre volont6 soit faite! Je vous remercie du temps que vous me I'avez laiss^e.w
Quoique cette nouvelle se soit trouv^e fausse, et que la petite en eut €t€ quitte pour la perte d'un de ses doigts, la vertu de son ai'eule n'en est pas moins digne d'61oges.
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to him that all their cabins, which he saw ranged around the chapel, represented in his eyes the great temple enclosing the sacred house of Loretto; that thus they were to consider the whole of their village as a great church, of which all the cabins constituted so many different parts. Hence he concluded that the fathers and mothers of families should regard themselves in their households as so many posts and places confided by Mary to their fidelity, — to be defended against the enemies, which are sins, espe- cially those of drunkenness and impurity. " Thus," he said in concluding, ' ' our village will truly be Mary's village, while no vice disputes with her its possession and sovereignty."
How desirable it would be for the proper govern- ment of Christian families that all should share the thought of this fervent Savage — who, infirm and sick as he has been for a year and a half, lives with a contented mind, and in a state of indifference to life, that are truly admirable.
His resignation reminds me of a certain widow, named Jeanne Atsigouendia. One day, when her granddaughter had gone to the woods with one of her cousins, they came to tell her that the latter had killed the other with a hatchet-stroke, which she had dealt her by accident. On hearing this news, the noble and devout grandmother addressed herself to the Blessed Virgin, and prayed to her as follows: " No sooner had you given me this child than I offered her to you. Now you take her from me. Although I feel my loss very deeply, your will be done! I thank you for the time in which you left her with me."
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Vers le meme temps une autre veuve, nommee H^l^ne Andotrahon, n'a pas moins signal^ sa vertu pendant la maladie de son frere et de son petit-fils. Celui-ci, enfant de cinq ans, ^tait attaqu^ d'une grave fi^vre et tourment^ par une prodigieuse multi- tude de vers. Quelque soin qu'eut la grand'mere du corps de son petit-fils, elle en avait encore plus de son ame, lui faisant faire presque continuellement divers actes de vertu qu'elle pronon^ait d'abord, et qu'il r^petait avec une docilite et une douceur admi- rables dans un age si tendre. Pour le frere de notre H^l^ne, ^tant tomb^ malade au moment oil tous nos Sauvages retournaient "k Notre- Dame de Foye pour y ensemencer leurs champs, elle demeura seule k Lorette pour le soigner. Le P. Bouvart, ^tant alle les visiter, demanda \ cette fidele soeur si elle ne s'ennuyait pas d'etre seule. «Non, r^pondit-elle, parce que j'ai ici tout proche la cabane de Jesus et de Marie, ou je vais m'acquitter de ce que je leur dois apres que j'ai satisfait k ce que je dois k mon fr^re.»
Le meme Pere, visitant un autre malade, il lui demanda comment il passait le jour et la nuit, couch^, comme il 6tait, si peu commodement sur sa natte et sur son 6corce. II r^pondit : « Je dis continuellement mon chapelet, et je ne m'ennuie point.)) C'est ^ la v€r\X.€ un homme qui vit dans une grande union avec Dieu; et qui, pour ne point partager le soin qu'il a de le servir avec le soin qu'il lui faudrait prendre d'une femme, a refuse encore dernierement de se marier. II r6pondait ^ sa soeur, qui lui proposait un parti assez avantageux, qu'elle I'obligerait de le laisser comme il 6tait, puisqu'il s'en trouvait tres- bien. Ce chaste et devot Sauvage s'appelle Jacques Onoiiandousandik.
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Although this news turned out to be untrue, and the little one had escaped with the loss of one of her fingers, her grandmother's virtue is no less praise- worthy.
About the same time, another widow, named Helene Andotrahon, displayed her virtue to no less a degree during the illness of her brother and grand- son. The latter, a child five years old, was attacked by a violent fever, and tormented by a great multitude of worms. Careful as the grandmother was of her grandson's body, she was still more so of his soul ; and she caused him almost continually to make various acts of virtue, which she first pronounced, and which he repeated with admirable docility and gentleness in one so young. When our Helene's brother fell ill, — just as our Savages were about to return to Notre Dame de Foye, to sow their fields, — she remained at Lorette to attend him. Father Bouvart went to visit them, and asked this faithful sister whether she did not find it tedious to be alone. She replied: " No, because I have quite near me the cabin of Jesus and Mary, where I go to pay my debt to them after I have satisfied what I owe to my brother."
The same Father, while visiting another sick per- son, asked him how he passed the day and night, — lying, as he did, so uncomfortably upon his mat and bed of bark. He replied : " I repeat my rosary con- tinually, and I am not lonely." He is, in truth, a man who lives in close union with God; and who, in order not to have to divide the attention he displays in serving him with the care that he would have to take of a wife, refused quite recently to marry. He replied to his sister, who proposed a very good match
154 LES RELA TIONS DES /^SUITES (Vol. 58
Le 1 6 jiiillet de I'ann^e 1674, le R. P. Claude Da- blon, sup6rieur g^n^ral des Missions de la Compagnie de J^sus en la Nouvelle-France, et recteur du College de Quebec, vint poser la premiere pierre de la nou- velle maison de Lorette avec les c^r^monies ordinaires et non sans une joie extraordinaire de nos Sauvages. Depuis ce jour-l^'jusqti'au jour de la benediction et de I'ouverture de la chapelle, qui a eu lieu le 4 novembre suivant, ils ont eti d'eux-memes la devo- tion d'aller tous les matins prier Dieu au pied de la croix que Ton a plac6e, selon la coutume, i I'endroit oil devait etre I'autel.
Dans le desir qu'ils avaient de voir bientot leur 6glise achev^e, ils ont volontiers contribue de leur tra- vail lorsqu'on a souhait6 qu'ils aidassent]^les ouvriers. Et malgr6 leur pauvret6 ils ont, au retour de leur chasse, fait present ^ la Sainte Vierge de dix-huit peaux d'orignal ; mais nous avons mieux aime les ^changer pour des vetements que nous leur avons procures pour aider k les couvrir. Nous avons agi de meme par rapport k deux autres peaux qu'ils avaient donn^es pour t^moigner leur joie de ce que nous apprenons k leurs enfants h. servir k la messe, et pour leur acheter des robes et des surplis; nous avons pr^fer^ fournir du notre h. cette depense.
La chapelle etant acbev6e, elle fut benie le 4 novembre, et la benediction faite, on alia en proces- sion "k un reposoir dress6 dans le bois sur le chemin de Quebec, k un quart de lieue du bourg. Les Fran- §ais et les Sauvages y chantaient h. deux choeurs des bymnes, des motets et les litanies de Notre-Dame, dont on allait recevoir I'image qui nous a €t6 envoyee d' Italic. Comme elle est faite sur le modele de la
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to him, that she would oblige him by leaving him as he was, since he was well off. The name of this chaste and devout Savage is Jacques Onouandou- sandik.
On the 1 6th of July of the year 1674, Reverend Father Claude Dablon, superior-general of the Mis- sions of the Society of Jesus in New France, and rector of the Quebec College, came to lay the founda- tion-stone of the new house of Lorette, — with the usual ceremonies, and not without extraordinary joy on the part of our Savages. From that day to the day when the chapel was blessed and opened, the 4th of November following, they of their own accord practiced the devotion of going every morning to pray to God at the foot of the cross which was placed, as is customary, at the spot where the altar was to be. '■ ' '
Being desirous of soon seeing their church com- pleted, they willingly contributed their labor when asked to help the workmen; and, notwithstanding their poverty, on their return from hunting they gave a present of eighteen moose-skins to the Blessed Virgin. But we preferred to exchange these for garments, which we procured for them, to help to clothe them. We did the same in regard to two other skins, which they had given to manifest their joy because we taught their children to serve at mass, and to purchase for them gowns and surplices ; we preferred to contribute to this expense from our own pockets.
The chapel being finished, it was blessed on the 4th of November; and, when the blessing was given, we went in procession to a repository erected in the woods, on the road to Quebec, a quarter of a league
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miraculeuse image de Lorette, et qu'elle y a touch6, elle est ici dans une grande estime et dans une juste v^n^ration.
Apres qu'on I'eut plac6e sur le manteau de la che- min^e, comme est aussi plac^e la madone de Lorette en Italie, on chanta la messe en musique. Notre R. P. Sup^rieur, qui officiait, y pronon9a un d6vot et solide sermon, ou il fit un beau parallele des deux Lorette de Canada et d'Europe; et de fait, tons ceux qui les ont vues toutes deux jugent qu'elles sont parfaitement semblables.
En effet, notre nouvelle Lorette, aussi bien que la premiere, est longue de quarante pieds sur vingt de largeur, et haute de vingt-cinq. Elle est perc^e de trois portes, d'une chemin^e et de deux fenetres. Audessus de la porte du pignon d'en bas, qu'on croit avoir 6t6 celle par ou entra I'ange, on a elev6 un clocher, et dans la muraille, au c6t€ droit de I'autel, on a plac6 une armoire, et parce que nous ne posse- dons aucune des veritables pieces de vaisselle qui ont servi "k J^sus, k Marie et ^ Joseph, au moins y avons- nous suppl66 en en faisant faire une toute semblable. Elle a 6t6 appliqu^e et mise dans les saintes ^cuelles qui furent trouvdes, le siecle passe, dans le plafond de la sacree maison de Lorette, et que Ton ota de peur que le feu ne s'y prit, k cause du grand nombre de lampes qui brulent continuellement dans la sainte chapelle.
Comme dans la pauvret^ ou nous sommes nous n'avons pas sujet de craindre un semblable accident pour notre nouvelle Lorette, nous I'avons hardiment plafonn^e en bois, comme etait anciennement la veritable Lorette. Pour le petit retranchement qui
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from the village. The French and Savages alter- nately chanted hymns, motets, and the litanies of Our Lady, — whose image, sent us from Italy, we were about to receive. As it was made on the model of the miraculous image of Loretto, and has touched it, it is greatly esteemed and justly vene- rated here.
After we had placed it on the mantelpiece of the chimney, as the madonna of Loretto in Italy is also placed, a mass was chanted with instrumental music. Our Reverend Father »Superior, who officiated, deliv- ered a devout and solid sermon, in which he drew a beautiful parallel between the Loretto of Canada and the Loretto of Europe, and, in fact, all who have seen both consider that they are exactly similar.
In fact, our new Loretto, as well as the old one, is forty feet long by twenty wide, and twenty-five feet high. The walls are broken by three doors, a chim- ney, and two windows. Above the door in the lower gable, which is believed to be that by which the angel entered, a steeple has been built, and in the wall on the right side of the altar a cupboard has been placed; and because we possess none of the real pieces of earthenware that were used by Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, we have at least supplied their place, by making others exactly like them. They have been touched to and placed in the "holy bowls " that were found, during the past century, in the ceiling of the sacred house of Loretto, — which was removed, lest it might catch fire through the great number of lamps that continually burn in the holy chapel.
As, owing to our poverty, there is no reason to fear a similar accident for our new Loretto, we have
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est derrifere I'autel, les grilles et les autres choses, nous avons tacli6 de les repr6senter aussi le mieux qu'il nous a €\.6 possible.
Depuis I'ouverture de la chapelle, la ferveur de nos Sauvages a redouble; il n'y a pas eu jusqu'k un vieillard age au moins de cent ans, nomm6 Jacques Andaron, qui n'en ait donn^ des preuves; il s'etait d'abord montr6 assez contraire k I'^tablissement de Lorette, mais il n'eut pas plus tot vu la chapelle achevee, que, changeant de sentiments, il temoigna sa joie par une harangue ou il felicitait toute sa nation d 'avoir au milieu d'eux la maison de Marie. II invitait tous les Sauvages les plus eloignes k venir reconnaitre leur Dieu dans un sanctuaire tout sem- blable k celui qu'il a habite apres s'etre fait homme; et il assurait qu'il mourrait d^sormais content, puis- qu'il voyait ses neveux 6tablis dans un bourg si beau et si devot.
, ^ Lorsque des religieux, des eccl6siastiques ou quel- que autre personne un peu considerable y viennent en pelerinage, comme il en vient en assez bon nombre, il va les saluer, et ensuite crier au milieu du village, et haranguer pour temoigner combien il est rejoui de I'honneur qu'on y rend ^ Notre-Dame.
Les enfants meme ont t^moigne une ferveur qui surpasse leur age ; leur grande devotion est de servir la messe dans ce saint lieu, en robes et en surplis; ainsi nos petits Sauvages, au grand contentement de leurs parents, paraissent k present k I'^glise en habits de clercs ou d'enfants de choeur, et en font tres-bien tous les offices. Pour marquer combien, tous jeunes qu'ils sont, ils estiment de servir h. la messe, le petit Jean Atheiaska, qui n'a que sept k huit ans, fit voeu
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boldly made a wooden ceiling, like the former one of the true Loretto. As for the small recess behind the altar, the gratings, and other things, we have also endeavored to represent them as well as we could.
The fervor of our Savages has redoubled since the opening of the chapel ; even an old man, at least a hundred years old, named Jacques Andaron, has given proof of it. He had, at first, shown some opposition to the establishment of Lorette ; but no sooner did he see the chapel finished than he changed his mind, and manifested his joy by a harangue, in which he congratulated his whole nation on having Mary's house in their midst. He invited all the most distant Savages to come and acknowledge their God in a shrine similar to that which he had inhab- ited when he was made man ; and he declared that he would die happy, since he saw his nephews settled in so fine and so devout a village.
When any religious, ecclesiastics, or other persons of note come here on a pilgrimage, as a goodly num- ber do, he goes to greet them; and afterward he calls out in the village, and harangues, to show how pleased he is with the honor paid to Our Lady.
Even the children have displayed a fervor beyond their years ; their great devotion consists in serving at mass in that holy place, in robes and surplices. Thus our little Savages, to the great satisfaction of their parents, now appear in church habited as clerks or choristers, and perform all the offices very well. To show to what an extent, young as they are, they esteem serving at mass, little Jean Atheiaska, who is only seven or eight years old, made a vow to serve twenty masses to obtain the cure of his mother,
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de servir vingt messes pour obtenir la gu^rison de sa mere, Marie Oiiendraka, qui 6tait dangereuse- ment malade d'une pleur^sie. La gu6rison de la mere est probablement une preuve que Notre-Sei- gneur a agr66 non-seulement la pi6te de I'enfant, mais encore sa fidelity k s'acquitter de sa promesse; en effet, toutes les messes qu'il a servi depiiis jus- qu'au nombre de vingt, il avait eu soin de les marquer lui-meme sur un ais de sa cabane, en y tirant k chaque fois une ligne avec du charbon.
Mais Dieu a inspire un sentiment encore plus spirituel "k une Iroquoise de qualite. Cette femme, apres avoir soutenu g^n^reusement de grandes per- secutions en son pays, ou en haine de la Foi on 1' avait priv^e de son rang dans les conseils et dans les assemblies, 6tait venue se fixer ici pour y faire plus librement tous les exercices de notre religion. Quel- ques jours apr^s la benediction de la chapelle, elle alia trouver son directeur, et en lui ouvrant toute son ame a I'ordinaire: «Mon pere, lui dit-elle, dites-moi si je prie bien; voilk la priere que Notre-Seigneur m'a inspir6e et qui me remplit d'une grande consola- tion. Je lui dis: « Seigneur, maitre de nos vies; jusqu'ici je ne vous ai point remerci6 de m'avoir donne un corps et une ame capables de vous con- naitre, de vous aimer et de vous servir; mais ^ present que mes pieds me portent dans une chapelle toute semblable k votre maison, que mes yeux en voient toutes les dimensions, que mes oreilles en entendent les excellences dans les discours que Ton nous en fait, que mon esprit s'occupe "k y penser, et que toute moi-meme je suis si souvent dans ce sanc- tuaire; c'est, mon Dieu, avec joie et avec sujet que
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Marie Ouendraka, who was dangerously ill with pleurisy. The mother's cure is probably a proof that Our Lord was pleased not only with the child's piety, but also with his faithfulness in fulfilling his promise. In fact, he was careful to mark all the masses at which he served, up to twenty, on a board of his cabin, by drawing a line for every one with a piece of charcoal.
But God inspired an Iroquois woman of rank with a still more spiritual sentiment. This woman — after having bravely endured great persecutions in her own country, — where, in hatred of the Faith, she had been deprived of her rank in the councils and assemblies — had come to settle here, that she might in greater freedom perform all the exercises of our religion. Some days after the blessing of the chapel, she went to her director, and baring her whole soul to him as usual, she said: " My father, tell me whether I pray aright. Here is the prayer that Our Lord has inspired me to say, and it fills me with great consolation. I say to him : ' Lord, mas- ter of our lives, hitherto I have not thanked you for having given me a body, and a soul capable of know- ing, loving, and serving you. But, — now that my feet bear me to a chapel similar in all respects to your house; that my eyes see its dimensions, and that my ears hear of its excellences, in the discourses that are spoken to us about it ; that my mind is occu- pied in thinking of it, and that I myself am so often in this shrine, — now, my God, I render thanks to you, joyfully and with reason, for having created me, for having preserved me, and for having given me the senses and powers that I have received from you."*
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je vous rends grace de m' avoir cr66e, de m' avoir con- serv^e et de m' avoir donn6 les sens et les puissances que j'ai rejus de vous.w
Puisque j'ai commence de parler de cette chr6- tienne, si avanc6e dans la vie spirituelle qu'il y en a peu qui la puissent ^galer en esprit et en devotion, j'ajouterai encore quelques mots k sa louange. Le jour de la Toussaint, elle a passe toute la nuit "k prier pour les ames du purgatoire, et a dit jusqu'^ treize chapelets, qui sont presque une fois aussi longs en sa langue qu'en la notre.
En second lieu, sa petite fille, ag6e de huit ^ neuf mois, 6tant malade a Textremite, elle est allee ^ la chapelle I'offrir S, Dieu, afin qu'il en disposat pour sa plus grande gloire. Au milieu de la priere et de son sacrifice, se sentant attendrie par la force de I'amour qu'elle porte k son enfant, elle accourt aussi- tot au pied de son directeur pour lui demander si elle fait bien de pleurer, et si ce ne sera point man- quer de conformite k la volonte de Dieu que de lui offrir sa fille avec des larmes, qui sont une marque qu'on fait les choses k regret. Le Pere lui repondit que si Notre- Seigneur avait pleure sur son ami Lazare, elle pouvait pleurer sur son enfant; et que n'etant pas toujours en notre pouvoir de repandre ou de retenir nos larmes, il sufiisait que le coeur fut soumis aux ordres de Dieu. II lui ordonna ensuite de faire une neuvaine &, la Sainte Vierge pour la sante de sa fille, qui commen9a de se mieux porter aussitot qu'elle I'eut commencee. Elle avoua apres k son confesseur qu'elle n'a encore rien demande k Marie sa bonne patronne qu'elle ne I'ait obtenu par son moyen. Aussi sait-elle reconnaitre les faveurs qu'elle en
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Since I have begun to speak of this Christian woman, — so advanced in spiritual life that but few can equal her in understanding and devotion, — I will add some further words in her praise. On the feast of All Saints, she spent the whole night in praying for the souls in purgatory, and recited the rosary as many as thirteen times, — and it is nearly as long again in their language as in ours.
In the second place, when her little daughter, aged eight or nine months, was sick unto death, she went to the chapel to offer her to God, in order that he might dispose of her for his greater glory. In the middle of the prayer and of her sacrifice, being moved to tears by the strength of love which she felt for her child, she ran and threw herself at her director's feet, to ask him whether she did right in weeping, and whether she failed to conform to God's will in offering her daughter to him with tears, which are a sign that one does things with regret. The Father replied that, as Our Lord had wept for his friend Lazarus, she might weep for her child ; and that as it is not always within our power to shed or to restrain our tears, it sufficed that the heart should be submissive to God's commands. He after- ward ordered her to offer a novena to the Blessed Virgin for her daughter's health, and the latter began to recover as soon as she had begun it. She afterward admitted to her confessor that she had never yet asked Mary, her good patroness, for any- thing without obtaining it through her intercession. Thus she knows how to acknowledge the favors that she receives from her, and to profit by them. In fact, to thank Our Lady for her daughter's health, she endeavored that the first word pronounced by
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re9oit et en bien profiter. En effet, pour remercier Notre-Dame de la sant6 de sa fiUe, elle a tach6 que le premier mot que cet enfant prononcerait fut le saint nom de J6sus. Elle lui a done tant repete de fois ce nom adorable que la premiere parole qu'k dite cette enfant a 6t6 J^sus; et elle a continuellement ce beau nom ^ la bouche, ce qui cause une extreme joie ^ sa mfere.
La troisi^me chose que nous dirons de cette ver- tueuse Iroquoise, appel6e Marie Tsaoiiente, c'est que comme elle a fort bon esprit, et qu'elle sait parfaite- ment nos mysteres, lorsqu'il y a des catechum^nes iroquois, elle nous aide beaucoup k les instruire. De plus, comme dans la cabane oil elle demeure il y a un grand nombre de chretiens, puisqu'il s'y trouve quatre menages, elle les assemble tous les soirs autour d'elle pour leur repeter les histoires saintes qu'ont racontees les Peres et les discours qu'ils ont prononces. Ensuite elle leur fait faire les prieres tout haut et chanter quelque cantique spirituel avant qu'ils se retirent pour prendre leur repos.
Nous avons sujet de croire que Jacques Onnhate- taionk, premier capitaine de nos Sauvages, qui I'a re9ue en sa cabane, a profite de ses pieux discours et de ses bons exemples, puisqu'il montre depuis ce temps- Ik une ferveur tout extraordinaire. Ce bon vieillard, lorsqu'il a neige, se l^ve secretement des les deux heures apres minuit pour oter la neige autour de la chapelle et pour en preparer les chemins. Le jour de I'lmmaculee-Conception de Notre-Dame, le P. Chaumonot ayant dit que c'etait une belle devotion de reciter autant ^' Ave Maria que la Sainte Vierge avait et6 de jours dans le sein de sa mere, ce qui
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the child should be the holy name of Jesus. She therefore repeated that adorable name to her so often that the first word spoken by the child was ' ' Jesus ; ' ' and she continually has that beautiful name in her mouth, thereby causing intense joy to her mother.
The third fact that we shall relate about this virtuous Iroquois woman, named Marie Tsaouent6, is that — as she is very intelligent, and thoroughly knows our mysteries — she greatly assists us in instructing the Iroquois catechumens, when there are any. Moreover, as there are a great many Chris- tians in the cabin in which she resides, — for it con- tains four households, — she gathers them around her every evening, to repeat to them the sacred stories that the Fathers have related, and the discourses that they have delivered. Then she makes them recite their prayers aloud, and sing a hymn, before they retire to rest.
We have reason to believe that Jacques Onnhate- taionk, the leading captain of our Savages, who received her into his cabin, profited by her pious discourses and good examples; for he has, since then, manifested a very extraordinary fervor. Whenever snow falls, this good old man rises secret- ly, as early as two hours after midnight, to remove the snow from around the chapel and to clear the roads. On the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, Father Chaumonot told him that it was a beautiful devotion to recite the Ave Maria as many times as the Blessed Virgin had passed days in her mother's womb, making in all four and a half rosaries. He at once took his rosary, and said five whole ones.
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faisait en tout quatre chapelets et demi, il prit aussi- tot son chapelet et en dit cinq tout entiers.
Nous choisirons encore deux marques de la ferveur de nos Sauvages; la premiere est leur devotion de venir ^ la chapelle des quatre heures du matin, soit pour y faire oraison mentale, comme le pratiquent les plus spirituels d'entre eux, soit pour y reciter des chapelets et d'autres prieres vocales, comme le font les autres. II y en a qui y demeurent des deux et des trois heures ; et parce qu'ils venaient meme avant quatre heures du matin, et qu'ils etaient obliger de prier dehors, exposes au froid, la chapelle ne s'ou- vrant qu'k cette heure-lk, il a fallu leur defendre de venir jusqu'^ ce qu'ils vissent de la lumiere dans r^glise; notre pauvret6 ne nous permettant pas d'y entretenir une lampe tou jours allumee, comme nous le souhaiterions.
La seconde marque de leur devotion est que, comme en Italic, on a justement une grande veneration pour le petit retranchement qui est derriere I'autel de Lorette, que Ton nomme il camino santo, nos Sau- vages, pour honorer un si saint lieu dans sa repre- sentation, n'entrent qu'apres avoir communie dans le retranchement que nous avons aussi pratiqu6 derriere notre autel. lis le nomment en leur langue Marie etiondata, V appartement de Marie, parce que c'etait 1^ ou, a ce que I'on croit, la Sainte Vierge avait son lit, et ou il est assure qu'elle a sou vent habill6 et chauffe son divin enfant.
Comme aux jours de fete, nos Sauvages ne pour- raient pas etre commodement introduits dans ce petit sanctuaire, k cause des Francais qui viennent en grand nombre faire leurs devotions, et qui n'entrent
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We will select two more evidences of the fervor of our Savages : the first is their devotion in coming to the chapel as early as four o'clock in the morning, either to offer mental prayers, — a practice followed by the more spiritual among them, — or to recite the rosary and other oral prayers, as the others do. Some remain there two and three hours ; and, because they came even before four in the morning and were obliged to pray outside exposed to the cold, as the chapel was not open until that hour, it was necessary to forbid their coming until they should see a light in the church, — because our poverty did not allow of our keeping a lamp burning all the time, as we would have desired.
The second proof of their devotion is that here, as in Italy, a great veneration is justly felt for the small recess behind the altar of Loretto, which is called il camino santo; and our Savages, to honor so holy a place in its representation, never enter the recess which we also have made behind our altar, unless they have received communion. They call it in their language Marie etiondata, "Mary's apartment," — because it is believed that there the Blessed Virgin's bed was placed ; and there, it is asserted, she often dressed and warmed her divine child.
As on festival days our Savages could not conven- iently be introduced into this little sanctuary, on account of the French, — who come in great numbers to perform their devotions, and who never enter this holy place until after they have received commun- ion,— they have taken the working-days for them- selves. Thus, every day there is a family that con- fesses and receives communion through that motive. And, when all the cabins have performed this duty
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aussi dans ce saint lieu qu'aprfes leur communion, ils ont pris pour eux les jours ouvriers; ainsi il y a tous les jours une famille qui se confesse et qui communie pour ce sujet; et lorsque le tour des cabanes est achev6, ils recommencent avec autant et plus de fer- veur qu'k la premiere fois. Leurs principales prieres ont pour objet de demander le bon r^glement des families sur celle de J6sus, de Marie et de Joseph, la conversion des infideles, nomm6ment des Sauvages, et un heureux succes pour la France, dans toutes ses affaires et toutes ses entreprises.
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in turn, they begin again, — with even more fervor than at the first time. The object of their principal prayers is to obtain that their families may be properly governed, like that of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph; the conversion of infidels, especially of the Savages ; and success for France in all its affairs and undertakings.
170 LES RELATIONS DES jiSUITES [Vol.58
Relation de ce qui s'est passe aux Missions iroquoises pendant les annees 1673 et 1674.
CHAPITRE I.
DE LA MISSION D'AGNlfi.
LES Agni^ronnons, qui, entre tous les Iroquois, avaient fait une guerre plus cruelle aux Fran- gais, ont 6t6 aussi, parmi ces nations sauvages, ceux qui ont embrass^ le Christianisme en plus grand nombre et avec le plus de ferveur. Outre que leurs bourgades ont singulierement diminu6, par le depart des leurs qui se sont rendus k la Prairie de la Mag- deleine ou "k Notre- Dame de Foye pour y vivre en v^ritables Chretiens ; plusieurs de ceux qui sont rest6s en leur pays ou se pr^parent au bapteme, ou, I'ayant d6jk refu, en remplissent parfaitement toutes les obligations. Le P. Bruyas, qui a soin de cette Mis- sion, a 6t6 oblig6 de demander du secours : car, nous 6crit-il, si les choses continuent d'aller comme elles vont depuis quelque temps, il ne pourra plus suffire lui seul "k confirmer les nouveaux chretiens, k per- fectionner les anciens, k instruire les catechumenes, et ^ faire les autres fonctions du missionnaire.
La conversion et le bapteme d'un des anciens et des plus considerables de cette nation, nomme Assen- das6, a beaucoup contribue k lui donner ces occupa- tions. Get bomme, ag6 d'environ soixante-cinq ans, a 6t6 toujours fort estim6 dans son pays, k cause de
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Relation of what occurred in the Iroquois Mis- sions during the years 1673 and 1674.
CHAPTER I.
OF THE AGNI6 MISSION.
THE Agnieronnons, who, among all the Iroquois, have most cruelly waged war against the French, have also been those who, among these savage nations, have embraced the Christian religion in greatest numbers, and with the most fervor. Besides the fact that their villages have dwindled away to an extraordinary degree through the departure of their people, — who have gone to la Prairie de la Magdeleine or to Notre Dame de Foye, to live there as true Christians, — many of those who have remained in their own country are either pre- paring for baptism, or, having already received it, thoroughly fulfill all the obligations that it entails. Father Bruyas, who has charge of this Mission, has been compelled to ask for assistance; for he writes us that, if things continue as they have for some time, he alone will not suffice for confirming these new Christians in the faith, for perfecting the older ones, for instructing the catechumens, and for performing the other duties that devolve upon a missionary.
The conversion and baptism of one of the elders, one of the most notable men of that nation, named Assendase, has greatly contributed to furnish him
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son esprit et de son experience dans les affaires. Outre qu'il est le chef d'une des principales families, sa fiert6 et son esprit fourbe et dissimul^ rendaient sa conversion tr^s-difficile. L'int6ret le retenait dans rinfid61it6, aussi bien que le respect humain, parce qu'il retirait un profit considerable de I'exer- cice des superstitions, et que, d'un autre cote, s'il venait k y renoncer dans un age si avance, il ne pou- vait eviter les railleries qui sont insupportables aux Sauvages. Combattu par tons ces motifs, il r^sistait depuis deux ans ^ la grace, qui le pressait incessam- ment de demander le bapteme. Mais enfin le discours que M. le comte de Frontenac adressa k Montreal aux deputes des cinq nations iroquoises, pour les exhorter ^ embrasser la Foi, le toucha si puissamment, qu'il se r^solut, pour obeir k 1' inspira- tion divine, de passer par-dessus toutes les considera- tions humaines. En effet, aussitot qu'il fut de retour en son pays, il demanda instamment au P. Bruyas d'etre instruit et baptist; il montra tant de ferveur et renonga si genereusement et d'une maniere si publique ^ toutes les superstitions du pays, que, quoique le meme Pere eut r^solu de I'^prouver assez longtemps, il fut comme oblige d'abr^ger le temps de I'epreuve et de lui accorder assez promptement sa demande. Le lendemain de son bapteme, Assen- dase fit un festin public, oti il d^clara "k tous les con- vies qu'il avait renonce aux songes et aux autres coutumes superstitieuses ; il protesta qu'il ne se trouverait plus aux assembiees oil il avait coutume de presider lorsqu'il s'agissait des songes. II a accompli cette promesse avec tant d'exactitude, aussi bien que tous les exercices du Christianisme, qu'il
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all these occupations. This man, aged about sixty- five years, has always been greatly esteemed in his country, on account of his intelligence and his experi- ence in affairs. In addition to the fact that he is the head of one of the leading families, his arrogance and his treacherous and dissembling character rendered his conversion very difficult. Interest as well as human respect retained him in infidelity, because he derived considerable profit from the prac- tice of superstitions ; while, on the other hand, if he renounced them at so advanced an age, he could not avoid raillery, which Savages cannot bear. Assailed by all these motives, he resisted for two years the influence of grace, which constantly impelled him to ask for baptism. But, in the end, the discourse addressed by Monsieur the count de Frontenac at Montreal to the deputies of the five Iroquois nations, to induce them to embrace the Faith, had so power- ful an effect upon him that he resolved to overcome all human considerations in order to obey divine inspiration. In fact, as soon as he returned to his country, he earnestly requested Father Bruyas to instruct and baptize him ; he manifested such fervor, and renounced all the superstitions of the country in so noble and so public a manner that, although the same Father had resolved to subject him to a rather prolonged trial, he was compelled to shorten the time of his probation, and to grant his request in a com- paratively short time. On the day following his baptism, Assendase gave a public feast, at which he declared to all the guests that he had renounced dreams and the other superstitious customs ; and he asserted that he would never again be present at the meetings over which he was accustomed to preside
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est Texemple de tous les chr^tiens. Anim6 d'une sainte jalousie, il s'est propose d'^galer et meme de surpasser Garakontie en fid61it6, et d'accrediter, par son exemple, la Priere "k Agnie, comme cet excellent Chretien I'a fait b. Onnontague. Dans la ferveur de sa conversion, il emploie les paroles energiques pour exprimer son attachement inviolable "k la Foi. «J'ai fait, dit-il, une 6ternelle fraternite avec celui qui m'a baptise ; si les Fran9ais recommencent la guerre et viennent pour nous tuer, je ne quitterai point pour cela r affection que j'ai pour lui, et je saurai tou jours bien distinguer celui qui nous otera la vie du corps d'avec celui qui m'a rendu celle de I'ame, et qui continuera toujours de me la conserver tant que je lui ob6irai.» Le P. Bruyas assure que, de tous les chr6tiens, il n'en a point de plus obeissant et de plus docile qu'Assendas6, et qu'il est oblig6 d'admirer tous les jours de plus en plus la force et I'efficacite de la grace dans ce Sauvage.
La conversion de cet ancien a eu un grand 6clat et a fait beaucoup d' impression sur I'esprit des autres, en sorte que le P. Bruyas se voit sollicit6 tous les jours de baptiser des enfants et meme des adultes ; mais il a cru ne devoir accorder cette grace qu'&, un tres-petit nombre. II y a sujet d'esp6rer que cette bonne volonte s'^tendra "k tous, du moins k la plupart des Sauvages d'Agni6, et que, comme le demon se servait particulierement des anciens pour maintenir les superstitions, Dieu se servira de ceux-lk memes pour les renverser et pour etablir la religion. Ce qui donnerait encore plus de fondement k cette esp6rance, c'est la crainte que le demon lui-meme semble en concevoir, et qu'il temoigne assez par les nouveaux
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when dreams were discussed. He has so faithfully kept this promise, and practiced all the Christian exercises, that he is the model for all the Christians. Animated by holy emulation, he proposes to equal, if not surpass, Garakontie in fidelity; and by his example to bring Prayer into credit at Agnie, as that excellent Christian has done at Onnontagu6. In the fervor of his conversion, he makes use of energetic words to express his inviolable attachment to the Faith. " I have," he says, " entered into an ever- lasting brotherhood with him who has baptized me. If the French declare war once more, and come to kill us, I will not, on that account, relinquish the affection I feel for him; and I shall always know how to distinguish him who shall deprive us of the life of our bodies from him who has given me that of the soul, and who will always continue to preserve it for me so long as I obey him." Father Bruyas asserts that, among all the Christians, he has none more obedient or more docile than Assendase; and that he is every day compelled more and more to admire the power and efficacy of grace in this Savage,
The conversion of this elder has caused a great stir, and has produced a deep impression on the minds of the others, so that Father Bruyas finds himself solicited daily to baptize children and even adults; but he has deemed advisable to grant this favor to a very small number only. There is reason to hope that this willingness will extend to all, at least to the majority of the Savages of Agnie ; and that, as the devil formerly made use of the elders in maintaining superstitions, God will also make use of them in overturning the same, and in establishing
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efforts qu'il fait incessamment pour arreter les progr^s de la Foi. Le P^re, depuis quelque temps, rejoit tous les jours de nouvelles insultes de ceux qui ne veulent pas se convertir, et un ancien lui a reprocti^ publiquement qu'il ruinait leur pays, parce qu'il y ruinait les songes et les superstitions, et il I'a menace en meme temps que, s'il ne sortait du bourg oil il 6tait alors, il le ferait chasser de tout le pays. Mais un missionnaire ne se met guere en peine de ces sortes de menaces; au contraire, elles sont sa consolation, parce qu* elles rendent ses travaux plus semblables ^ ceux de J^sus-Christ, qui furent toujours accompagn^s de semblables contradictions.
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religion. A still better reason for this hope lies in the fear that the devil himself seems to have of such a result, — a fear which he sufficiently manifests by the fresh efforts that he constantly makes to stay the progress of the Faith. For some time, the Father has daily received new insults from those who will not be converted, and an elder reproached him publicly with destroying their country, because he destroyed dreams and superstitions ; and, at the same time, he threatened that, if the Father did not leave the village where he then was, he would have him expelled from the entire country. But a missionary pays little heed to threats of this kind ; on the con- trary, they are his consolation, because they make his labors resemble still more those of Jesus Christ, which were ever accompanied by similar oppositions.
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CHAPITRE II.
DE LA MISSION D'ONNEIOUT.
LETTRE DU P. MILLET AU R. P. DABLON.
MON Reverend P^re, Depuis I'epoque oii, I'ann^e pass6e, j'^crivis k Votre Reverence, j'ai baptise quarante-cinq personnes, entre autres seize adultes et autant d'en- fants, avec les ceremonies de I'Eglise; les autres, enfants ou adultes, I'ont 6te dans I'^tat de maladie.
C'est beaucoup plus que je n'esp6rais, vu les efforts qu'ont fait centre nous les Hollandais depuis qu'ils ont repris Manathe et Orange et qu'ils en ont cbasse les Anglais.
J'ai dejk ecrit ^ Votre Reverence comme le plus considerable capitaine de ce bourg, qui avait ete depute ^ Catarokoui, a parle tres-bien ^ son retour, et comme il a raconte aussi agr^ablement qu'avan- tageusement pour les Franfais tout ce qui s'etait passe entre les Iroquois et M. le Gouverneur. II a fait, en outre, une profession ouverte de vouloir dorenavant favoriser le Christianisme et porter les Onneiouts ^ la Foi autant qu'il pourrait. Je lui ai procure r occasion d'executer sa promesse; car je I'ai engage, au commencement de I'Avent, lui et un autre ancien qui est baptise, k rassembler les gens du bourg pour 1' instruction publique que je faisais les dimanches. lis venaient done tous deux prendre
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 - 74 179
CHAPTER II.
OF THE ONNEIOUT MISSION.
LETTER FROM FATHER MILLET TO REVEREND FATHER
DABLON.
MY Reverend Father, Since the time when I wrote to Your Rever- ence last year, I have baptized forty-five persons, — among others, sixteen adults, and as many children, with the rites of the Church; while the others, children or adults, were baptized while ill.
This is much more than I had hoped for, in view of the efforts of the Dutch against us ; since they have recaptured Manathe and Orange, and driven out thence the English.
I have already written to Your Reverence how the most notable captain of this village, who had been deputed to Catarokoui, spoke very well on his return ; and how he related, as agreeably as advantageously to the French, all that had passed between the Iro- quois and Monsieur the Governor. Moreover, he stated publicly that he would favor Christianity in future, and would induce the Onneiouts, as far as lay in his power, to embrace the Faith. I gave him an opportunity of fulfilling his promise; for, at the beginning of Advent, I persuaded him, and another elder who is baptized, to gather the people of the village together for the instruction that I give in public every Sunday. Thus they both came to ascertain the hour when I should be in the chapel ;
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mon heure k la chapelle et allaient ensuite faire le tour du fort, criant chacun de son c6t6: ((Rendez- vous, mes neveux, rendez-vous promptement chez la Robe noire.)) Apres mon instruction, un de ces anciens ajoutait ordinairement une courte exhortation pour appuyer ce que j'avais dit et en faciliter la pra- tique. Une declaration aussi publique des deux plus considerables a beaucoup favoris6 le Christianisme ; Votre R6v6rence en verra la preuve dans ce qui s'est pass^ ici par rapport k 1' Eclipse de lune du 21 Janvier dernier, et &, propos de plusieurs ambassades venues des autres bourgades des Iroquois k Onneiout, et qui ont quelque chose d'assez curieux.
I. DE L'^CLIPSE de lune DU 21 JANVIER
1674.
DEPUIS longtemps j'avais parl6 de cette Eclipse k nos Onneiouts, et, dfes le commencement de la nouvelle lune, j'avais port6 un d6fi aux anciens, et en particulier "k certains jongleurs qui se melent de deviner, de dire dans combien de jours elle arrive- rait. lis baissaient tons la tete et 6taient obliges d'avouer leur ignorance. ((Mais quoi, leur disais-je, ces gens qui se disent venus du ciel ne savent pas ce qui se passe de ce c6t6-lk? Ces devins de profession ne sauraient-ils pas meme pr^dire une chose qui se sait naturellement ? Ces savants en histoires fabu- leuses, qui racontent des choses si extraordinaires du soleil et de la lune, qui les prennent pour des divinites et qui leur off rent du p6tun pour avoir un heureux succfes de leur guerre et de leur chasse, ignorent-ils quand I'un ou 1' autre se doit 6clipser? » Plus je les pressais, plus^ils demeuraient interdits.
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and then they went around the fort, calling out, each on his own side: "Go, my nephews, go at once to the black Gown's." After my instruction, one of these elders usually added a short exhortation to support what I had said, and to facilitate the practice of it. So public a declaration, from two of the most notable men, has been a great aid to Christianity. Your Reverence will find the proof of it in what has happened here, in connection with the eclipse of the moon on the 21st of January last, and with several embassies from the other Iroquois villages to Onnei- out ; regarding these, there are some curious things to relate.
I. OF THE ECLIPSE OF THE MOON ON THE 2 1 ST OF
JANUARY, 1674.
FOR a long time previously, I had talked to our Onneiouts about this eclipse ; and, at the very beginning of the new moon, I had challenged the elders and, in particular, some jugglers who claim to foretell events, to say in how many days it would occur. They all hung their heads, and were com- pelled to confess their ignorance. " But," I said, " are these persons, who say that they come from the sky, ignorant of what happens up there ? Cannot these professional diviners even predict a thing that is revealed in nature ? Are these men — who know fabulous stories so well, who relate such extraor- dinary things about the sun and the moon, who take these objects for divinities, and offer them tobacco to obtain success in war and in hunting — not aware when one or the other is to be eclipsed ? ' ' The more I pressed them, the more they were abashed. " Is it
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«Est-ce cette lune qui commence, me demanderent- ils, qui se doit 6clipser? Oui, r^pondais-je, c'est cette lune; il n'est plus question que de savoir quel jour arrivera 1' eclipse. Prenez courage, consultez entre vous, et faites-nous un peu voir la verity de votre art k pr^dire les choses futures. » Les pauvres gens m'avouaient que cela les passait, et ils me priaient de les aller avertir au temps de 1 'eclipse. Apres cet aveu, plusieurs fois r^itere, de leur igno- rance, le dimanche, apres la messe, je dis publique- ment que 1' Eclipse serait la nuit suivante; qu'ils se souvinssent de regarder, s'ils se reveillaient. Par bonheur, le ciel 6tait fort serein; et, des que j'eus remarque le commencement de I'eclipse, je m'en allai trouver I'orateur du pays et quelques autres des plus considerables, qui se leverent, et qui, etant sortis promptement de leurs cabanes, virent I'eclipse d^jk fort sensible. Sur-le-champ, ils en firent le cri au milieu et autour du fort. Je les avertis qu'elle ne demeurerait pas oil elle en etait, qu'elle croitrait bien davantage, et qu'k peine resterait-il la douzieme partie de la lune. Ils me demanderent si celle-ci ne paraitrait plus ; ces bonnes gens la croyaient presque perdue. «Elle reparaitra tout entiere, leur dis-je, quand elle sera en tel endroit du ciel, car elle avance toujours; et, comme vous la voyez maintenant d6- croitre peu h. peu, vous la verrez aussi recroitre ^ proportion.)) Tout etant arrive comme je I'avais annonc6, ils ont ete contraints d'avouer que nous savions mieux les choses qu'eux. De mon cot^, j'en ai tire bien de I'avantage pour les instruire et pour les desabuser de leurs fables et de leurs superstitions. Ces choses sensibles sont beaucoup plus efficaces sur
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the moon that is just beginning that is to be eclipsed? " they asked me. " Yes," I replied, " it is this moon ; the only question is to know when the eclipse will occur. Take courage, consult among yourselves, and let us see for a moment how accurate your art is in predicting future events." The poor people admitted to me that it was beyond their knowledge, and begged me to go and notify them at the time of the eclipse. After this avowal of their ignorance had been several times reiterated, I publicly announced on Sunday, after mass, that the eclipse would take place on the following night ; and that, if they awoke, they must remember to look. Fortunately, the sky was very clear ; and, as soon as I noticed that the eclipse was beginning, I went to the orator of the country, and to some others among the most notable men; they arose and, coming quickly out of their cabins, saw that the eclipse was already very perceptible. Immediately, they an- nounced the event, within and without the fort. I warned them that it would not remain as it was; that it would increase a great deal more, and that barely one-twelfth of the moon would remain visible. They asked me whether it would not reappear again, for these simple people thought that it was almost lost. " It will reappear entirely, " I said, " and then it will be at such a spot in the sky for it continues to advance ; and, just as you now see it gradually grow- ing smaller, so will you see it grow larger in the same proportion." Everything happened as I had announced, and they were compelled to admit that we knew things better than they. For my part, I derived great benefit from this, in instructing them
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leur esprit grossier que tons les raisonnements qu'on leur pourrait apporter.
II. DE PLUSIEURS AMBASSADES DES AUTRES IRO- QUOIS A ONNEIOUT.
LES nations iroquoises, pour entretenir la paix et I'union entre elles, et pour r^parer les fautes que les particuliers pourraient faire, ont institu6 de certaines ambassades qu'elles s'envoient reoiproque- ment les unes aux autres. C'est Ik ou ils exposent avec le plus de magnificence qu'ils peuvent leurs beaux colliers de porcelaine, et oil leurs capitaines s'etudient k faire paraitre leur Eloquence, tant k raconter leurs fables, leurs genealogies et leurs his- toires qu'k exhorter &. propos les anciens et les guerriers selon I'exigence des affaires pr6sentes.
Dans chaque famille il y a un certain nombre d'hommes et de femmes considerables qui repr6- sentent comme les nobles du pays; on les appelle Agoiand^res; ce sont eux qui fournissent la porce- laine et les colliers. Lorsqu'on a dessein d'envoyer une ambassade chez les autres nations, les families s'assemblent d'abord, chacune en particulier, et ramassent tout ce qu'elles ont k donner de porcelaine ; ensuite chaque famille fait voir aux autres ce que les plus riches d'entre eux ont fourni. Le plus ancien ou le plus Eloquent de cette famille fait ensuite une harangue, soit en se tenant debout, soit le plus sou- vent, en se promenant. II parle tantot sur un ton lugubre et en trainant sur les mots, tantot avec un accent vif propre k ^mouvoir ; quelquefois d'une voix gaie et entremel6e de chansons que les autres anciens r6petent harmonieusement. A la fin il montre tous
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and undeceiving them about their myths and super- stitions. Such perceptible things have a much greater effect on their rude minds than would all the reasoning that could be brought to bear upon them.
II. OF SEVERAL EMBASSIES FROM THE OTHER IRO- QUOIS TO ONNEIOUT.
IN order to maintain peace among themselves, and make amends for faults committed by individu- als, the Iroquois nations have instituted certain embassies which they reciprocally send one another. In these they exhibit their fine porcelain collars, with the utmost magnificence in their power ; and their captains endeavor to display their eloquence, — both in relating their fables, their genealogies, and their stories; and in suitably exhorting the elders and warriors, according to the requirements of cur- rent affairs.
In each family there are a certain number of men and women of note, who represent, as it were, the nobles of the country. They are called Agoiandlres, and they provide the porcelain beads and the collars. -'^ When it is intended to send an embassy to other nations, the families first meet, each in private, and collect all the porcelain beads that they can give; then each family displays to the others what its richest members have supplied. Then the oldest or the most eloquent person of the family delivers a harangue, — either standing erect, or, more fre- quently, walking about. At times, he speaks in lugubrious tones, drawling out his words; at others, in a sharp tone calculated to produce emotion ; some- times in a joyful voice, intermingled with songs,
186 LES RELATIONS DES j£SUITES [Vol.58
ces colliers comme autant de defunts, autrefois consi- derables, qui reviennent "k la vie pour animer tous ceux qui sont Ik presents k conserver le pays pour lequel ils ont autrefois donne leur vie et repandu leur sang. Tout se termine par un festin, et par I'offrande de plusieurs presents qu'ils se font les uns aux autres. Les anciens des autres families remercient celui qui a parle, et le lendemain ils font la meme chose que lui, chacun a leur tour. Apres que chaque famille a ainsi expose ses colliers et acheve sa harangue, elles se rassemblent toutes k un jour determine, et, pen- dant tous leurs colliers par ordre, chacune de son cote, elles s'entredisent qui sont ceux qui ont donne ces colliers. «Un tel, disent-ils, a donne celui-lk de tant de milliers de grains ; un tel a donne ces deux- Ik, ces trois ; un autre ces quatre colliers. » Enfin ils joignent ensemble tous les colliers et les mettent entre les mains des anciens qui en demeurent les maitres. Le conseil se tient ensuite pour examiner combien on en portera k chaque nation vers laquelle on doit aller en ambassade, et quelles affaires on y traitera. Quelques jours avant le depart des ambas- sadeurs, ils envoient un present de porcelaine pour demander qu'on leur prepare une natte pour s'asseoir et se coucher, et pour avertir du jour de leur depart ou de leur arrivee.
Sitot que cette nouvelle parvient dans une bour- gade, les vieillards s'y rassemblent; de leur cote les jeunes gens vont k la chasse, et tout le monde contribue de ce qu'il a de meilleur pour regaler les ambassadeurs.
Quand ils sont arrives environ k une portee de mousquet de la palissade, on allume un feu en signe
1672-74] RELATION OF 1673-74 187
which the other elders repeat in harmony. At the conclusion, he shows all these collars as so many- deceased persons, formerly people of note, who come back to life to urge all present to preserve the coun- try for which they, of old, gave up their lives and shed their blood. The whole concludes with a feast and the mutual interchange of presents. The elders of the other families thank him who has spoken; and, on the following day, they do the same as he has done, each in turn. After each family has thus displayed its collars and delivered its harangue, they all assemble on a specified day; and, hanging up their collars in order, each family on its own side, they tell one another who have given these collars. " Such a person," they say, "has given this one, made of so many thousand beads; another has given these two, these three; still another, these four collars. ' ' Finally, they put all these collars together, and hand them over to the elders, who remain the masters thereof. The council is then held, to con- sider how many shall be carried to each nation to which an embassy is to be sent, and what affairs shall be negotiated by the deputies. Some days before the departure of the ambassadors, they send a present of porcelain beads, to ask that a mat be prepared on which they may sit and lie, and to give notice of the date of their departure or arrival.
As soon as the news reaches a village, the old people assemble ; the young men, for their part, go to hunt; and every one contributes the best that he has for regaling the ambassadors.
When they have arrived within a musket-shot from the palisade, a fire is lighted, as a sign of peace, at the spot where the elders of the village are going
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de paix dans I'endroit oil les anciens de la bourgade vont les attendre; et, apr^s avoir p^tune quelque temps et regu les compliments sanvages qu'ils se font les uns aux autres, on les mene h. la cabane qui leur est assignee. lis marchent tons gravement et file k file. Un des plus considerables marche en tete, et il prononce une grande suite de mots qu'ils ont regus par tradition et qu'on r^pfete apres lui. Celui des ambassadeurs qui doit parler, marche le dernier en chantant d'un air assez agreable, et con- tinue sa chanson jusque dans sa cabane, oil il fait meme cinq ou six tours en chantant, puis il s'assied le dernier de tous. lA on renouvelle les temoignages d'amitie, on se fait des presents pour oter la lassi- tude, pour essuyer les larmes, pour dessiller les yeux afin qu'on s'entre-regarde plus facilement, enfin pour ouvrir le gosier afin de donner un passage plus libre ^ la voix. Ces presents sont suivis de mets que Ton sert aux ambassadeurs par forme de rafraichissement. Ensuite on leur demande des nouvelles de leur nation, et ils repondent par des recits qui durent quelquefois presque toute la nuit. Le lendemain ils se reposent, et, le troisieme jour, ils font leur harangue, ils exposent les colliers et le sujet de leur ambassade. On leur repond le jour suivant, apres une danse publique qui se fait autour des colliers ; le tout se termine par un festin et par les remerciements qu'ils se font mutuellement.
III. DE QUELQUES BAPTEMES.
POUR venir maintenant k ce qui regarde plus directement la Mission, la plupart des baptemes que j'ai faits, ont ete, ou de parents dont les enfants
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to wait for them ; and, after smoking for some time and receiving the savage compliments that they pay- one another, they are led to the cabin set apart for them. They all march gravely and in file. One of the most notable men walks at the head, and pronounces a long string of words which have been handed down to them by tradition, and_ which are repeated by the others after him. The ambassador who is to be the spokesman comes last of all, sing- ing in a rather agreeable tone; he continues his song until he has entered his cabin, around which he also walks five or six times, still singing; then he sits down, last of all. There the pledges of friendship are renewed, and presents are given to dispel fatigue ; to wipe away tears ; to remove scales from their eyes, so that they may more easily see one another; and, finally, to open their throats and give freer passage to their voices. These presents are followed by food served to the ambassadors, by way of refreshment. Then they are asked for news <:oncerning their nation, and they reply by recitals that sometimes last nearly all night. On the fol- lowing day they rest, and on the third they deliver their harangue, display the collars, and make known the object of the embassy. A reply is given to them on the following day, after a public dance around the collars. The whole concludes with a feast and with mutual thanks.
III. OF SOME BAPTISMS.
To come now to what more directly affects the Mission, most of the people whom I have bap- tized have been either parents whose children had already received baptism, or children whose parents
190 LES RELATIONS DES jASUITES [Vol.58
etaient baptises, ou d'enfants dont les parents etaient Chretiens, ou d'autres Sauvages de diverses cabanes oti la Foi n'^tait pas encore entree. J'espere que Dieu se servira d'eux pour en attirer d'autres 'k son service. Une ville est ^ demi prise quand on pent avoir des intelligences dans la place ; et je remarque qu'on a bien plus d'entree pour instruire les Sauvages quand il y a quelqu'un de la maison ou de la parente qui fait profession publique du Christianisme. J'ai baptise six personnes dans une meme cabane, comme par engagement, les uns apres les autres ; de ces six, il y en a dej^ un qui est alle prendre sa place dans le ciel. C'etait un jeune enfant dont j'avais baptise la mere, I'automne pass6. Apres la mort de ce fils unique, elle fit un festin aux plus fervents Chretiens, pour les inviter k assister aux prieres que Ton recite- rait sur le corps du defunt, qu'elle avait fait trans- porter dans la chapelle. C'est la premiere, parmi nos femmes Sauvages, qui ait eu ce courage; car, ici, les meres ne songent ordinairement qu'^ pleurer la mort de leurs enfants. Et nous n'osions guere, en ce moment-Ik, leur rappeler que leurs enfants morts avaient ete baptises, de peur de confirmer dans leur esprit la persuasion qu'ils ont generalement que la Foi et le bapteme avancent la mort. J'espere qu'elle ne sera pas la derniere, et que nous introdui- rons avec le temps les sepultures chretiennes, comme nous avons introduit cette annee beaucoup d'autres ceremonies,
Un des autres adultes que j'ai baptises, et qui a le plus donne d'edification "k cette eglise, a ete une femme d' environ trente-cinq ans, d'un tres-bon naturel et d'une vie irreprochable.
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were Christians, or other Savages, from various cabins into which the Faith had not yet entered. I trust that God will make use of them to attract others to his service. A town is half taken when correspondence can be opened with some one within its walls ; and I observe that there is a much better chance for instructing the Savages when some mem- ber of the household, or one of the relatives, publicly professes Christianity. I baptized six persons in the same cabin, as if by agreement, one after the other. One of these six has already gone to take his place in heaven. This was a young child, whose mother I had baptized last autumn. After the death of this, her only child, she gave a feast to the most fervent Christians, to request them to be present at the prayers that were to be recited over the body of the deceased, which she had caused to be conveyed to the chapel. She is the first among our Savage women who has had the courage to do so; for, as a rule, the mothers here think only of weeping at the death of their children. At such a time, too, we hardly ven- ture to remind them that their dead children have been baptized, for fear of confirming them in the idea which they generally entertain, that the Faith and baptism hasten death. I hope that she will not be the last; and that, in time, we shall introduce Christian burial, just as we have introduced many other ceremonies this year.
Another of the adults whom I have baptized, and who has given the greatest edification to this church, is a woman about thirty-five years of age, of excel- lent character and irreproachable life.
Father Bruyas, who had charge of this Mission before me, had prepared her mother for a happy
192 LES RELATIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol.58
Le P. Bruyas, qui avait soin de cette Mission avant moi, avait pr6paree sa mfere ^ bien mourir, ou plutot, dans I'opinion de cette bonne femme, k naitre k une autre vie eternellement glorieuse. La persua- sion qu'elle avait que sa mere etait bienheureuse dans le Ciel lui servait d'un grand attrait pour se faire baptiser; et, d'un autre cote, sa vie fort con- forme aux lois du Christianisme, la faisait presque nommer chretienne avant qu'elle le fut.
Apres tout, je ne sais k quoi cela tenait, elle avait peine h s'assujettir au dimanche et aux antres pra- tiques des Chretiens. Elle alia jusqu'^ me dire un jour que je ne la baptiserais pas. Cependant elle avait de si bonnes dispositions au bapteme, que je ne pouvais croire que Dieu la voulut priver de cette grace, surtout apres qu'elle m'eut assure qu'elle n'avait point encore bu d' eau-de-vie, qui fait ici de grands ravages, meme parmi les femmes, et qu'elle voulait avoir la consolation de mourir sans en avoir bu. Comme je la sollicitais doucement d'achever ce que Dieu avait commence en elle, et de se faire veri- tablement chretienne comme elle en avait dej^ les apparences, elle se resolut enfin de se disposer au bapteme ; et, apres une epreuve de quelques mois, je la baptisai et je suppleai en meme temps les cere- monies k un de ses enfants qui avait 6t€ baptise en maladie. Je conferai aussi le bapteme k sa petite fille de trois ans. lis sont tons maintenant tres-assidus k la priere et aux instructions.
Une jeune femme me vint chercher pour aller bap- tiser sa mere que les medecins du pays avaient con- damn6e ; c'etait une bonne femme ,que ses parents avaient autrefois fort maltraitee pour I'empecher de
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death — or, rather, in the opinion of that good woman, for being born again to a life of everlasting glory. The conviction that her mother was happy in Heaven was a powerful reason for inducing her to be baptized; and, on the other hand, her life, which was most conformable to the laws of Christianity, almost gave her the name of Christian before she really was one.
After all, I know not why it was, she found it diffi- cult to submit to Sundays and to the other Christian practices. She even went so far as to tell me, one day, that I should not baptize her. Nevertheless, she had so excellent qualifications for baptism that I could not believe that God would deprive her of that grace, — especially after she had assured me that she had not yet drunk any brandy, which causes great ravages here even among the women ; and that she wished to have the consolation of dying without having drunk any. When I gently solicited her to complete what God had begun in her, and to become a true Christian, as she had all the appearances of one, she at last resolved to prepare herself for baptism ; and, after a trial of some months, I baptized her, and at the same time completed the rites for one of her children, who had been baptized while ill. I also administered baptism to her little daughter, three years old. They are now all most assiduous in attending prayers and instructions.
A young woman came to get me to baptize her mother whose recovery was despaired of by the physicians of the country. She was a good woman, who had formerly been ill-treated by her relatives, to prevent her from coming to Prayers. I did not consider her as dangerously ill as she was said to
194 LES RELATIONS DES jASUITES [Vol.58
venir ^ la Priere. Je ne la jugeai pas si fort en danger que Ton disait, et afin de pouvoir la disposer plus ^ loisir, je differai de lui conferer le bapteme. La fiUe s'impatienta centre moi et me demandait si je voulais attendre que sa mere fut morte pour la baptiser. Mais I'^venement a prouve que j'avais raison; la malade commen9a des lors k se mieux porter, et apr^s avoir recouvre entierement la sante, elle est venue k la chapelle. J'ai done pu la disposer comme je souhaitais, et je I'ai baptisee avec les cere- monies de I'Eglise. Depuis, elle a dit a ses parents qui I'avaient maltraitee pour I'empecher d'embrasser la Foi: «Battez-moi, maintenant, et tuez-moi, si vous voulez, car je vous declare que non-seulement je retourne k la Priere, mais que je suis baptisee et chretienne. » On la laissa faire en repos ses exercices de devotion, et elle est une des plus ferventes de notre Eglise.
Parmi celles que j'ai baptisees en maladie, je n'en citerai qu'une. C'etait une femme d'environ qua- rante ans qui, avant de tomber malade, avait pris la resolution de se faire chretienne. Dans ce dessein, elle m'avait ouvert son coeur et avait fait une action g6n6reuse bien au-dessus de la port^e ordinaire des Sauvages; elle avait meprise toute sorte d'int^rets temporels pour celui de sa conscience et de son salut ; elle avait dejk commence a venir ^ notre chapelle, mais elle n'y vint qu'une fois, car des le lendemain elle tomba malade. Je craignais qu'on ne dit ou qu'elle ne s'imaginat que c'etait la Priere qui avait cause sa maladie; mais Dieu lui donna d'autres pen- s6es. Elle me temoigna au contraire qu'un de ses regrets €tait d'avoir si peu prie Dieu. «Mais au
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be ; and, in order that I might be able to prepare her more at leisure, I deferred administering baptism to her. Her daughter became impatient with me, and asked me whether I intended to wait until her mother was dead, to baptize her. But events proved that I was right, for the sick woman began at once to mend ; and, when she had completely recovered her health, she came to the chapel. I was therefore able to prepare her as I wished, and I baptized her with the rites of the Church. After that, she said to her relatives who had ill-treated her to prevent her from embracing the Faith: " Beat me now and kill me, if you will ; for I declare to you that not only do I return to Prayer, but that I am baptized and a Christian." She was allowed to perform her devo- tions in peace, and is one of the most fervent of our Church.
I shall mention only one of those whom I baptized during their illness. This was a woman about forty years old, who, before falling sick, had resolved to become a Christian. With that object, she had opened her heart to me, and had performed a noble action which was far beyond the usual capacity of Savages ; she had scorned all sorts of temporal inter- ests for the sake of her conscience and her salvation. She had already begun to come to our chapel ; but she came only once, for she fell ill on the following day. I feared that it might be said, or that she might think, that Prayer had caused her illness; but God inspired her with other thoughts. On the con- trary, she told me that one of her regrets was that she had prayed to God so little. " But, at least," she said, " pray for me until I die ; and if any one should seek to prevent you, do not allow him to do so."
196 LES RELATIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol.58
moins, me disait-elle, priez pour moi jusqu'k la mort, et si quelqu'un voulait vous en empecher, ne laissez pas de le faire. » Elle a laiss6 deux filles d6jk grandes h. qui elle a recommand^ au lit de la mort d'embras- ser le Christianisme.
IV. DE QUELQUES ANCIENS CHRETIENS.
JE ne saurais taire ici I'^dification que nous a donn^e un capitaine huron, nomm6 Louis Thaon- d^choren, qui avait accompagn6 M. le gouverneur k Catarokoui; de \k il 6tait venu ici avec quelques autres capitaines visiter ceux de sa nation qui sont naturalises dans le pays des Iroquois. Le peu de temps qu'il a pass6 en cette bourgade, 11 s'y est con- duit avec tant de sagesse, qu'il nous a laiss^ ^ tous un tres-doux souvenir de sa vertu. II portait tou- jours au cou son chapelet et son crucifix qui lui servaient de sauvegarde contre les invitations de festins et contre les autres occasions de pecber qui ne sont ici que trop fr^quentes. II me pria de le conf esser et de le communier, afin que Dieu lui forti- fiat r esprit dans ce pays de Tinfid^lite et lui inspirat des paroles de vie et de salut quand il parlerait aux autres Sauvages. Le dimancbe il fit une instruction aux Chretiens pendant la messe, et, aux exhortations particulieres qu'il faisait dans les cabanes, il ajouta divers presents, tant pour retirer quelques-uns du desordre que pour les affermir dans le bien. Je n'ai su ces particularites qu'apres son depart. Depuis, etant all^ k Agnie, je le rencontrai encore dans les memes exercices de pi6t6 et de charity, et j'eus la consolation de I'entretenir plus particulierement dans quelques courses que je fis avec lui en visitant la
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She left two daughters, already grown up, whom she advised on her death-bed to embrace Christianity.
IV. OF SOME OF THE OLDER CHRISTIANS.
I CANNOT pass over in silence the edification given us by a Huron captain, Louis Thaond^choren, who had accompanied Monsieur the governor to Cataro- koui ; thence he had come here with some other cap- tains, to visit those of his nation who are naturalized in the Iroquois country. During his short stay in this village, his conduct was so discreet as to leave us a very pleasant recollection of his virtue. He always wore his rosary and crucifix around his neck, and they served him as a safeguard against all invitations to feasts and other occasions for sin, which are only too frequent here. He begged me to confess him and give him communion, in order that God might for- tify his mind in this country of infidelity, and inspire him with the words of life and of salvation when he should speak to the other Savages. On Sunday, he gave an instruction to the Christians during mass; and to his private exhortations in the cabins he added gifts, — both to withdraw some from evil ways, and to strengthen the others in doing good. I learned these particulars only after his departure. Subse- quently I went to Agni^, and found him still per- forming the same pious and charitable actions ; and I had the consolation of conversing with him more privately in the course of some walks that I took with him, while visiting the Agnie Mission. His discourses were solely about God, and he took an exceedingly great pleasure in singing Church chants along the way — as a reparation, he said, for the sins that he had formerly committed by singing profane
198 LES RELATIONS DES J^SUITES [Vol.58
Mission d'Agni6. Ses discours n'^taient que de Dieu, et il se plaisait extremement k chanter par le chemin des airs de I'Eglise, pour r^parer, disait-il, les fautes qu'il avait faites autrefois en chantant des chansons profanes. La charity I'avait d6pouill6 de tout, et autant je I'avais vu "k Onnei'out pourvu de bien des choses utiles ou commodes, autant je le trouvai k Agni6 d^nue de tout, except^ de sa vertu, qui me paraissait d'autant plus charmante qu'elle I'avait r^duit k une plus grande pauvret^.
Nous avons ici deux chr6tiennes qui me sont d'un grand secours pour instruction des fideles et pour I'avancement de cette Eglise. La premiere, et la plus ancienne, se nomme F61icite; elle avait puis^ "k Quebec, chez les Ursulines, ou elle a demeur^ quelques ann^es, une teinture si solide et de si bons principes de piete, qu'elle a su prendre, par sa vertu, et conserver tou jours un certain ascendant sur tous les autres Chretiens. Elle sait parfaitement toutes les prieres, les chants de I'Eglise et les mysteres de notre Foi, et elle en donne I'explication avec tant de nettet^, que les hommes eux-memes I'dcoutent volon- tiers comme leur maitresse. Elle est secondde par une autre jeune femme baptis^e, qui, entre autres actes de zMe, s'est signal^e par I'adresse qu'elle a fait paraitre en ramenant dans le bon chemin une de ses amies qui s'en ecartait. Cette Sauvage etait tombee en quelque faute de superstition, "k 1' instance de ses parents, pendant une grave maladie qui avait mis ses jours en danger. Elle avait bien, k la verity, r^pare en quelque fa9on sa faute, en renon5ant k ses superstitions et refusant d'^couter davantage ses parents; n^anmoins, la honte d'avoir succomb6 k leurs
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songs. Charity had despoiled him of everything; and, while I found him at Onneiout provided with many useful and convenient articles, I found him at Agm€ deprived of everything except his virtue, — which seemed to me all the more charming, since it had reduced him to a greater poverty.
We have here two Christian women who are of great use to me in instructing the faithful, and for the advancement of this Church. The first, and the older one, is called Felicite; she had obtained in Quebec from the Ursulines, with whom she lived some years, so sound a knowledge and so excellent principles of piety, that, through her virtue, she was able to assume and ever to maintain a certain ascen- dancy over all the other Christians. She thoroughly knows all the prayers, the chants of the Church, and the mysteries of our Faith ; and she explains them so clearly that the men themselves willingly listen to her as their teacher. She is seconded by another baptized young woman, who, among other acts of zeal, has distinguished herself by the skill that she displayed in bringing back to the right path one of her friends, who was straying from it. This Savage had committed a sin of superstition, at the instiga- tion of her parents, during a serious illness that endangered her life. It is true that she had atoned for her fault, to some extent, by renouncing her superstitions, and refusing to listen any longer to her parents; nevertheless, the shame of having yielded to their first solicitations, or some other per- sonal consideration, prevented her from returning to the chapel after being cured. In vain did I request her two or three times to come to it; she hardly came to mass on Sunday. I applied to our young
200 LES RELATIONS DES J£SUJTES [Vol.58
premieres sollicitations, ou quelque autre respect humain, Tempechait, aprfes sa gu^rison, de revenir ^ la chapelle. Je I'y avals invitee deux ou trois fois sans effet ; k peine venait-elle le dimanche ^ la messe. Je m'adressai k notre jeune chr^tienne, qui incontinent alia lui parler, et par ses sages exhorta- tions la ramena ^ la chapelle. Elle avait encore de la peine h. se conf esser, mais la meme chr^tienne retourna la voir, I'instruisit elle-meme de la manifere de le faire, en la confirmant par son propre exemple, ne la quitta point qu'elle ne I'eut amende au confessionnal, et qu'elle ne I'eut vue s'adresser au confesseur.
V. DE QUELQUES CAPITAINES EN PARTICULIER ET DE L'^TAT GENERAL DE CETTE MISSION.
J?AI dejk parl6 du zele que le plus considerable capitaine du bourg d'Onneiout avait fait paraitre pour la Foi k son retour de Catarokoui, et comme il avait exhorts ses compatriotes, en public et en parti- culier, 'k frequenter la priere et a 6couter nos instruc- tions. II a continue depuis d'en agir ainsi dans toutes les occasions. Un jour il fit un festin solen- nel, oil, haranguant selon sa coutume k I'entree du festin, il commenca ainsi: «Comme nous reconnais- sons J^sus qui regne au ciel pour le maitre de nos vies et la regie de nos actions, nous n'avons point invoque d'autre genie en ce festin ; ce sera la Robe noire qui fera la priere. » Ensuite il exhorta les anciens, les guerriers, les femmes et les enfants a estimer la Priere, comme M. le gouverneur le leur avait recommande k Catarokoui.
II avait une autre fois invite a un festin les plus considerables du bourg, et il voulut que j'y fisse la
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Christian woman, who at once went to speak to her, and by her wise exhortations brought her back to the chapel. She still found a difficulty in coming to confession, but the same Christian went to her once more, and instructed her as to the manner of con- fessing ; she fortified her by her own example, and never left her until she brought her to the con- fessional, and saw her speak to the confessor.
V. OF SOME CAPTAINS IN ESPECIAL, AND OF THE GENERAL STATE OF THIS MISSION.
I HAVE already mentioned the zeal displayed by the most noted captain of this village of Onneiout for the Faith, on his return from Catarokoui, and how he had exhorted his countrymen in public and in private to attend prayers and listen to our instruc- tions. He has since continued to act in the same manner on all occasions. One day, he gave a solemn feast, at which he delivered a harangue, according to his usual custom, at the commencement of the feast ; he began with these words : ' ' As we acknowl- edge Jesus, who reigns in heaven, as the master of our lives and the guide of our actions, we have invoked no other spirit at this feast ; the black Gown will say prayers." Then he exhorted the elders, the war- riors, and the women and children to hold Prayer in esteem, as Monsieur the governor had recommended them to do at Catarokoui.
He had invited the most notable persons of the village to a feast, on another occasion ; and he desired that I should say prayers at it. Many questions were put to me with reference to the eclipse that had occurred some days previously, and we soon came to matters connected with Religion and the
a02 LES RELATIONS DES J ^SUITES [Vol. 68
pri^re. On m'y proposa beaucoup de questions sur l'6clipse qui ^tait arriv6e quelques jours auparavant, et nous en vinmes bientot aux matieres de la Reli- gion et de la Foi. Apr^s que j'eusse parle quelque temps de nos myst^res, un vieillard v6n6rable, extre- mement ag6 et de bon naturel, s'^cria: «Oui, je crois que c'est ^ Celui qui regne au del et non pas au songe ^ qui je suis redevable de tant d'annees que j'ai v6cu.» Depuis, il vint assez r^gulierement k la priere, avec un autre vieillard encore plus ag6 que lui.
Le maitre du festin, k son tour, dit tout haut: «Je vois bien que nos anciennes coutumes s'en vont se perdre, et que la Foi prend le dessus. Voici ce qu'elle nous enseigne, voici ce qu'elle nous defend, » et il continua ainsi, par forme d'entretien, ^ instruire les convi^s. Je puis dire qu'il le fit, en cette circon- stance et en beaucoup d'autres, aussi bien et plus efficacement que je n'aurais pu le faire.
Un autre capitaine est souvent venu me trouver pour se faire instruire, et m'a aussi envoye sa femme en notre cbapelle pour le meme sujet. II m'a assure qu'k son retour de la guerre, ou il est oblig^ d'aller, ils se feraient baptiser tous deux; et qu'alors il declarerait publiquement, en presence des chefs des guerriers et des anciens de la nation, qu'il renon5ait aux superstitions du pays et qu'il voulait professer le Christianisme. II est eloquent et hardi, j'espere beaucoup de lui si Dieu lui fait la grace d'etre Chretien.
Un autre capitaine, non moins considerable, et dont la femme et les enfants sont d6jk Chretiens, m'est aussi venu prier de I'instruire quelques jours
1672-74] RELATION OF 1673-74 203
Faith. After I had spoken for some time of our mysteries, a venerable old man, of very great age and gentle character, exclaimed: "Yes! I believe that I am indebted, for the many years during which I have lived, to Him who reigns in the sky, and not to dreams. ' ' Since then he comes very regularly to prayers, with another old man, still more aged than he.
The giver of the feast said aloud in his turn : " I see very well that our ancient customs are disappear- ing, and that the Faith is getting the upper hand. Now see what it teaches and what it forbids us ; " and he continued thus, by familiar discourse, to instruct the guests. I may say that he did so on this occa- sion, and on many others, as well and with better effect than I could have done.
Another captain frequently came to me to be instructed, and he also sent his wife to me in our chapel, for the same purpose. He assured me that on his return from war, whither he was compelled to go, they would both be baptized ; and that thereupon he would declare publicly — in presence of the chiefs, the warriors, and the elders of the nation — that he renounced the superstitions of the country, and that he intended to profess Christianity. He is eloquent and bold; I have great hopes for him, if God grant him the grace of becoming a Christian.
Another captain of no less note, whose wife and children are already Christians, also came to beg me to instruct him, some days before his departure for the war. A third made me baptize his only daughter, in advance; and, as a mark of honor, he marched past our chapel with all the young men, when they left to join the army.
204 LES RELATIUAS DES j£:SUITES [Vol.68
avant son depart pour la guerre. Un troisi^me m'a fait baptiser par avance sa fiUe unique ; et, en signe d'honneur, il a voulu passer avec la jeunesse aupres de notre chapelle, au moment ou ils partaient pour I'armee.
Tous ces chefs, reunis avec les anciens, m'envoy- ferent querir un jour pour leur enseigner diverses choses de la Foi, sur lesquelles ils me firent plusieurs questions. Je repondis k leurs questions ; et depuis ils ont avou^ publiquement qu'ils croyaient vrai ce que je leur avals dit.
Les mariages qui, parmi les Sauvages, se rompent pour le moindre mecontentement du mari ou de la femme, deviennent maintenant plus solides, meme entre les infidfeles, 'k I'exemple des Chretiens. Le culte de leur divinite, qu'ils nomment Agriskoue, s'est beaucoup diminue ; plusieurs ne sont plus aussi atta- ches k leurs songes qu'ils I'etaient, et se d^clarent bien plus hardiment pour la Foi qu'ils n'auraient fait par le passe. Ces bonnes dispositions me font espe- rer devoir dans peu d'annees les Iroquois d'Onnei'out, pour la plupart, embrasser le Christianisme. L'i- vTognerie, pour laquelle tous ces pauvres Sauvages ont un tr^s-grand faible, et peut-etre 1' unique obstacle qui s' oppose maintenant 'k leur conversion. Je les recommande aux S. S. Sacrifices de Votre Reve- rence, et moi particulierement.
Pierre Millet, S.J.
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All these chiefs, assembled with the elders, sent for me one day to teach them various matters per- taining to the Faith, respecting which they put me many questions. I answered their questions, and since then they have publicly admitted that they believed that what I had told them was true.
Marriages — which, among Savages, are dissolved on the slightest disagreement between husband and wife — are now becoming more stable, even among the infidels, who follow the Christians' example. The worship of their divinity, whom they call Agris- kou^, has greatly diminished; many are no longer so attached to their dreams as they were ; and they declare themselves much more boldly in favor of the Faith than they would have done in the past. These favorable tendencies lead me to hope that, in a few years, the majority of the Iroquois of Onneiout will have embraced Christianity. Drunkenness, for which all these poor Savages have a great weakness, is probably the sole obstacle that now hinders their conversion. I commend them, and myself in partic- ular, to Your Reverence's Holy Sacrifices.
Pierre Millet, S.J.
20« LES RELATIONS DES /^.SUITES [Vol.58
CHAPITRE III.
DE LA MISSION DE SAINT-JEAN-BAPTISTE A ONNON-
TAGUE.
L7EGLISE d'Onnontague s'est diminuee heureu- sement cette annee par la mort de quelques Chretiens qui sont alles augmenter le nombre des bienheureux, et par le depart de plusieurs autres qui ont quitt6 leur pays, c'est-k-dire le siege de I'ivrognerie, des superstitions et des debauches, pour aller demeurer k la Prairie de la Magdeleine, et aug- menter le nombre de ceux qui y vivent en v6ritables Chretiens. Le P. Jean de Lamberville n'a pas cru perdre ni les uns ni les autres; mais au contraire, il en 6crit en des termes qui marquent assez la joie de son coeur, de voir le fruit de ses travaux en lieu d'assurance, et de ce que ceux qu'il a cultives avec tant de peine ont change la compagnie des ivrognes, des debauches et des infideles avec celle, ou des saints dans le ciel, ou de ceux qui suivent les exemples des saints sur la terre. II mande aussi diverses choses de la mort des premiers et du depart des derniers, qui sont assez interessantes pour qu'on les rapporte ici telles qu'il les a ecrites.
I. DU DEPART DE QUELQUES CHRETIENS D'ONNONTA- GU6 POUR ALLER A LA PRAIRIE DE LA MAGDELEINE.
UNE Iroquoise, parente de Garakontie, baptisee avec les ceremonies ordinaires, aussi bien que ses trois fiUes, dont deux sont adultes, ^ fait ces jours
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 - -74 ISSl
CHAPTER III.
OF THE MISSION OF SAINT JEAN BAPTISTE AT ONNON-
TAGUE.
THE Church of Onnontague has been blessedly diminished this year by the death of some Christians, who have gone to increase the number of the blessed; and by the departure of many others, who have left their own country — that is to say the abode of drunkenness, of superstition, and of debauchery — to go and dwell at la Prairie de la Magdeleine, and swell the number of those who live there as true Christians. Father Jean de Lam- berville does not consider that he has lost either the one or the other; but, on the contrary, he writes of them in terms that sufficiently express the joy of his heart at seeing the fruits of his labors in a place of safety; he rejoices because those whom he has cared for with so much labor have exchanged the company of drunkards, of profligates, and of infidels for that of either the saints in heaven, or those who follow the example of the saints on earth. He also writes various things regarding the death of the former and the departure of the latter which are sufficiently in- teresting to be repeated here just as they are written.
I. OF THE DEPARTURE OF SOME CHRISTIANS OF ONNON- TAGUE FOR LA PRAIRIE DE LA MAGDELEINE.
AN Iroquois woman, a relative of Garakonti^, who was baptized with the usual rites, together with her three daughters, two of whom are adults,
a08 LES RELATIONS DES JESUITES (Vul. 68
passes ses adieux k notre bourgade, apr^s avoir partag6 entre ses parents et ses amis le peu de biens qu'elle avait, emportant seulement une natte de jonc; puis charg^e de quelques vivres et pr<5c6d6e de ses enfants, elle a quitt6 heureusement cette Baby- lone pour aller demeurer k la Prairie de la Magde- leine. Elle y avait ^t6 attir^e par son fils ain^, qui n'est encore que cat^chumene, et qui ayant 6t6 par hasard chasser vers ce lieu, y visita quelques-uns de ses parents. II y fut si charme de I'heureux 6tat et de la vie exemplaire de ses compatriotes k la Mission de Saint-Xavier des Pr^s, qu'il r^solut de s'y etablir avec eux. II invita sa mere et ses soeurs k faire de meme; une de ses tantes et son oncle I'ont aussi suivi dans ce dessein. Leur exemple 6tait ici fort utile, car ils professaient tous franchement la Foi; mais Dieu, nous ayant ote ces chr^tiens, nous en a substitue d'autres qui promettent beaucoup.
Cependant le fruit principal que j'ai recueilli a 6te aupres des moribonds.
D'un autre cote, Garakontie soutient toujours le Christianisme par ses paroles et par ses exemples, et ne se dement point de cette gen^rosit^ avec laquelle il s'est toujours declare pour la Foi. II en a donn6 de nouvelles preuves cette ann^e. Pendant que Ton solennisait ici la fete des songes, il a refuse constam- ment de donner son sac a p6tun, assez bien travaille, k un songeur qui, ainsi, a eu la honte d'etre refus^, ce qui se fait rarement; car Ton a tant de d^f^rence pour les songes que Ton accorde ordinairement tout ce que demande celui qui a song6. Cette action est une suite de la premiere declaration publique qu'il a faite il y a quatre ans, d'avoir renonc6 toutes les supersti- tions du pays en se faisant chr6tien.
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bade adieu to our village some da3^s ago, after divid- ing the little she owned among her relatives and friends, taking only a rush mat. Then, loaded with some provisions and preceded by her children, she happily abandoned this Babylon to go and dwell at la Prairie de la Magdeleine. She was attracted thither by her eldest son, who is as yet only a catechumen; this man, while hunting, by accident, in that vicinity, went to visit some of his relatives there. He was so charmed with the happy condition and the exemplary life of his countrymen in the Mission of Saint Xavier des Pr^s that he resolved to settle among them ; and he urged his mother and sisters to do likewise. One of his aunts and his uncle also followed him with the same intention. Their example was very service- able here, for they all openly professed the Faith. But God, who has taken these Christians from us, has replaced them by others, who are very promising.
Nevertheless, the chief fruit that I have gathered has been among the dying.
On the other hand, Garakonti6 continues to sup- port Christianity by his words and example and he does not deviate from that noble spirit with which he has always declared himself in favor of the Faith. He has given fresh proofs of it this year. While the festival of dreams was being celebrated here, he per- sistently refused to give his tobacco-pouch, which is quite handsomely embroidered, to a dreamer, who thereby had to endure the shame of being refused. That seldom happens; for such is the deference paid to dreams that, as a rule, everything asked for by the dreamer is given to him. This action is a sequel of the first public declaration made by him, four years ago, that he had renounced all the superstitions of the country on becoming a Christian.
210 LES RELA TIONS DES JESUITES [Vol. 58
Mais voici une autre d6claration de sa foi non moins solennelle, que Garakonti6 a faite en presence de tous les Iroquois. L'hiver pass6 il fut d6put6, avec les plus considerables du bourg, comme ambassadeur des Onnontagu6s, pour porter leurs presents chez les quatre autres nations iroquoises. Lorsqu'il vint k raconter le gen^alogie et I'origine des Iroquois, dont le narr^ n'est qu'une longue fable, il protesta toujours que ce qu'il allait dire 6tait uniquement une forme que Ton a coutume de garder en cette circon- stance, mais que ce n'etait pas une v^rite; enfin que tout ce qu'il raconterait de la creation du monde 6tait un pur divertissement, et que J6sus 6tait le seul Maitre de nos vies. II ne se contente pas d'enseigner ces verit6s de bouche, il les apprend aux autres encore mieux par ses exemples, car il est extremement exact k remplir en quelque lieu qu'il soit, tous les devoirs et exercices du chr^tien.
II. DU BAPTEME ET DE LA MORT DE QUELQUES
ADULTES.
JJai baptise depuis un an avec les ceremonies de I'eglise six adultes seulement. Je mets dans ce nombre un jeune gargon de 15 ^ i6 ans, k qui je ne pense jamais sans une extreme consolation. Un jour que j'etais all6 dans sa cabane, je lui trouvai le visage tout d^fait, et lui ayant demand^ quel 6tait son mal, j'appris qu'un ulcere qui lui avait rong6 la moiti6 de I'estomac, le faisait mourir peu k pen, sans qu'il eut pu trouver ni de remade "k son mal, ni me- decin qui se chargeat de le gu6rir. Je m'offris ^ lui dans la pens^e que Dieu benirait peut-etre le service que je rendrais k ce moribond, et que son ame serait
1672-74] RELATION OF 1673-74 211
But here is another and no less solemn declaration of his faith, made by Garakontie in the presence of all the Iroquois. Last winter, he was deputed with the most notable men of the village as an ambassador of the Onnontagues, to bear their gifts to the four other Iroquois nations. When he came to relate the genealogy and origin of the Iroquois, the descrip- tion of which is nothing but a long fable, he always protested that what he was about to say was merely a formula which is usually followed on such occa- sions, but that it was not true; in fine, that all he would relate about the creation of the world was simply a story, and that Jesus was the sole Master of our lives. He is not content with teaching these truths by word of mouth ; he teaches them to the others still better by his example, for he is exceed- ingly careful in performing all the duties and exer- cises of a Christian, wherever he may be.
II. OF THE BAPTISM AND DEATH OF SOME
ADULTS.
DURING the past year I have baptized only six adults with the rites of the church. Among this number I include a young boy of 15 or 16, of whom I never think without very great consolation. One day, when I went to his cabin, I found him with his face quite emaciated. Upon asking what was the matter with him, I learned that an ulcer, which had eaten away half of his stomach, was killing him gradually ; and that he could find neither a remedy for his disease, nor a doctor who would undertake to cure him. I offered him my aid, thinking that God would perhaps bless the service that I should render to this dying lad, and that his soul would be my
212 LES RELA TIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol.. 58
ma recompense si je donnais quelques soulagements ^ son corps. On m'avait envoy6 de I'onguent souve- rain pour les ulceres; le premier emplatre que j'en fis, nettoya si bien la plaie de ce jeune homme, que les vers cesserent de s'y former. Je le pansai tous les jours pendant un mois et demi que mon remMe dura. Cet ulcere, qui ^tait auparavant de plus d'un demi-pied et trois doigts avait ^te tellement r^duit, que tous ceux qui I'avaient vu auparavant ne pou- vaient assez louer Tefficacit^ de mon remade. Mais helas ! il me manqua alors qu'il 6tait le plus n^ces- saire pour achever cette cure. Aussi au bout de peu de temps le mal se renouvela.
L'assiduite que j'avais apportee a le panser gagna le coeur de ce jeune gargon et de ses parents, qui-ne pouvaient assez me temoigner leur reconnaissance. Pour lui, il crut ne pouvoir m'obliger davantage que de venir quelquefois prier ^ notre chapelle. Je lui r^it^rai plusieurs fois 1' assurance de ma bonne volon- t6, et je lui temoignai mon d^plaisir de ne pouvoir plus panser son mal, qui, faute de remade allait empirer. En effet, I'ulcere augmenta si fort qu'en peu de temps il lui gagna les entrailles. Alors je I'avertis que la mort approchait, et que puisqu'il se voyait contraint d'abandonner son corps a la pourri- ture, il procurat du moins k son ame un bonheur eternel. II me r^pondit qu'il en etait content, et des que je I'eus instruit il me pressa de le baptiser : je lui accordai sa demande apres 1' avoir 4prouv6 autant que son ^tat me le permit. II avait d^sir^ qu'on le baptisat dans la chapelle, ou, k raison de son extreme faiblesse, il eut beaucoup de peine a demeurer pen- dant les c6r6monies du bapteme, et encore plus ^
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reward if I procured some relief for his body. Some ointment had been sent me, which was a sovereign remedy for ulcers ; the first plaster that I made of it so thoroughly cleansed the young man's sore that maggots ceased to form in it. I dressed it every day for a month and a half, as long as my medicine lasted. The ulcer, which at first was more than half a foot and three fingers long, was so reduced in size that all who had previously seen it could not sufii- ciently praise the efiicacy of my remedy. But, alas! it failed me when it was most needed to com- plete the cure; and after a short time the disease resumed its course.
The assiduity with which I had attended the young lad won his heart, and those of his relations, who could not sufiiciently express their gratitude to me. For his part, he thought that he could not better oblige me than by coming sometimes to pray in our chapel. I repeatedly, on various occasions, assured him of my willingness, and expressed my regret at being unable any longer to dress his sore, which, through lack of medecine, would grow worse. In fact, the ulcer increased to such an extent that, in a short time, it attacked his entrails. Then I warned him that death was drawing near ; and that, since he was compelled to abandon his body to cor- ruption, he should at least procure eternal happiness for his soul. He replied that he was willing to do so; and, as soon as I had instructed him, he urged me to baptize him. I granted his request, after test- ing him as thoroughly as his condition allowed. He wished to be baptized in the chapel, where, owing to his extreme weakness, he had great difficulty in remaining during the ceremonies of baptism, and
214 LES RELATIONS DES J ^SUITES [Vol.68
retourner dans sa cabane, apres qu'elles furent ache- v6es. Je I'assistais de petits rafraichissements que j 'avals apport^s, et I'ayant exhorte k vsouffrir patiem- ment son mal, dans I'esp^rance d'une meilleure vie, je m'absentai du bourg durant six jours; pendant ce temps, il fit selon la coutume son festin funebre, ou il n'invoqua point d'autre divinite que Jesus, le maitre de la vie, ainsi que je I'appris de ceux qui y avaient assist^. Cependant la tendresse de sa con- science lui fit craindre d 'avoir offens^ Dieu en cela, et I'obligea de me demander a mon retour I'absolution du p^che qu'il croyait avoir commis. Je lui dis qu'il n'avait pas offens^ Dieu, et je I'encourageai a pers6- verer dans ses bons sentiments. II me demanda cependant "k prier Dieu, et il voulut recevoir le sacre- ment de penitence pour effacer, disait-il, ses p^ch^s d'impatience. Apres avoir fait avec moi des actes de contrition et les autres actes d'un chretien agoni- sant, il me dit qu'il allait trouver son pere qui 6tait mort Chretien. II y a lieu de croire qu'il en est arrive ainsi, car il est d^c6de avec toutes les marques d'un predestine. Voil^ ma chirurgie bien recom- pensee.
Outre ces adultes baptises avec c^r^monie, j'ai confer^ aussi le bapteme k huit personnes agees qui, k la reserve d'une seule, sont toutes passees ^ une vie meilleure. Ces sortes de gens exercent bien un missionnaire, quand leur maladie est un peu de dur^e. II faut beaucoup de patience pour souffrir leur mauvaise humeur et leur bizarrerie sauvage, si I'on veut, malgre les rebuts que I'on a, procurer leur salut, et rendre leur foi pers6v6rante. J'ajoute ^ ces huit personnes quatre vieilles femmes ^loign^es
1672-74] RELATION OF 1673-14 215
Still more in returning to his cabin when they were ended. I sustained him with some refreshing bever- age that I had brought with me; and, after exhorting him to endure his illness patiently in the hope of a better life, I absented myself from the village for six days. During that time he gave his funeral feast, as was customary; and at it he invoked no other divinity than Jesus, the master of life, as I learned from those who had been present at it. Nevertheless, the tenderness of his conscience led him to fear that he had offended God in this, and compelled him to ask me on my return to give him absolution for the sin that he thought he had com- mitted. I told him that he had not offended God, and I encouraged him to persevere in these good inclinations. He asked me, however, to pray to God; and he wished to receive the sacrament of penance — to efface his sins of impatience, as he said. After repeating with me acts of contrition, and the other acts of a dying Christian, he told me that he was going to join his father, who had died a Christian. There is reason to believe that this has happened, for he died with all the evidences of predestination. My surgery is well rewarded.
In addition to these adults whom I baptized with the rites, I also administered baptism to eight aged persons who, with the exception of a single one, have all gone to a better life. People of this sort are a great trial to a missionary, when their illness is somewhat protracted. Great patience is needed to endure their ill humor and their savage whims, if one desires, in spite of rebuffs, to procure their salvation and render their faith persevering. To these eight persons I must add four old women, at a
216 LES RELATIONS DES J ^SUITES [Vol.58
environ de neuf lieues d'ici, et distantes de trois k quatre lieues les unes des autres. La neige qui com- men9ait ^ tomber avait fait retirer dans le bourg la plupart des Sauvages qui vivaient de peche dans I'endroit ou residaient ces vieilles femmes. L'une 6tait sourde, I'autre sourde et aveugle, la troisifeme infirme et la quatrieme k I'extremite. J'allai tout expres les trouver dans un temps ou je savais que les deux premieres n'avaient chacune qu'une autre vieille Sauvage pour compagnie, et qu'ainsi je pour- rais crier aussi haut que je voudrais sans leur faire honte, ce qui reussit grace a Dieu. Je les instruisis et les baptisai pendant la nuit, apres m'etre heureuse- ment tir6 d'un trajet dans la riviere oil je fus con- traint de me jeter pour n'etre pas entraine par les eaux avec le mediant canot oil je m'etais embarque, Les deux autres moururent fort peu apres leur bap- teme. Une d'elles etait par malheur environn6e des jongleurs du pays et de quelques chasseurs qui lui apportaient un chevreuil pour faire son dernier festin. Ce fut bien Ik qu'il me fallut user de 1' importunity que conseille saint Paul et ^q V impudence de la foi, dont parle Tertullien ; et, malgr6 les murmures des uns et r impatience des autres, qui interrompaient 'k chaque instant les instructions que j'adressais \ la moribonde, la faire, pour ainsi dire, entrer par force dans le royaume des cieux.
III. DU BAPTEME DE QUELQUES ENFANTS.
SI I'exp^rience ne nous convainquait qu'il est dan- gereux de conferer le bapteme aux petits enfants qui ne sont pas malades, on en baptiserait un assez grand nombre avec le consentement des parents;
1672-74] RELATION OF J673-74 217
distance of about nine leagues from here, and three or four leagues from one another. The snow which was beginning to fall had caused most of the Savages who lived by fishing at the place where these old women resided, to withdraw into the village. One was deaf, another deaf and blind, the third was a cripple, and the fourth was dying. I went expressly to see them, at a time when I knew that the two former had each only an old Savage woman as a companion, and that thus I might call out as loud as I liked, without bringing shame on them. Thanks to God, I was successful. I instructed and baptized them during the night, after safely making my way across the river, — into which I was obliged to jump, to avoid being carried away by the waters with the wretched canoe in which I had embarked. The two others died very soon after their baptism. One of them was unfortunately surrounded by the jugglers of the country, and by some hunters who brought her a deer for her last feast. Then I was obliged to make use of the importunity recommended by saint Paul, and of the audacity of the faith of which Tertul- lian speaks; and, — in spite of the grumblings of the one and the impatience of the others, who, at every moment, interrupted me while instructing the dying woman, — to make her, as it were, enter the king- dom of heaven by force.
III. OF THE BAPTISM OF SOME CHILDREN.
WERE we not convinced by experience that it is dangerous to administer baptism to little children who are not sick, we would baptize a very large number of them, with their parents' consent; but we do not venture to risk administering the
218 LES RELA TIONS DES J ^SUITES [Vol. 68
mais on n'ose hasarder le sacrement de peur que plus tard ilvS ne le profanent par I'infid^lit^ dans laquelle ils vivent ordinairement, quand ils sont plus avanc^s en age. On ne baptise done que les enfants des Chre- tiens et des cat^chumenes, et tous ceux qui sont en danger de mort. J 'en compte vingt-sept baptises cette ann^e, dont six ont re9u le bapteme avec les ceremonies accoutum6es, les autres sans c^r^monies, et tous sont morts "k la reserve de trois. C'est le fruit le plus assure que Ton cueille en ce pays ou il est k souhaiter que les enfants meurent avant I'usage de raivSon. Sans remedes il est difficile de les bap- tiser ; ils servent "k tromper saintement les peres, les meres et autres parents dont plusieurs ont encore de r aversion du bapteme comme s'il avan^ait les jours de celui qui le regoit. Ay ant ete appel6 pour pro- curer quelque soulagement a un enfant que tous les jongleurs et les medecins du bourg s'^taient mel6s de guerir, un seul de mes remedes eut plus d'effet que toutes les jongleries et m^decines des Sauvages n'en avaient eu en six mois.
Cela me donna facile acces dans la cabane du ma- lade; les jongleurs feignaient de faire sortir du corps de I'enfant des dents d'ours et de chien, de pore et de cerf, des cheveux d'homme et cboses semblables qu'ils appellent des otkis, c'est-^-dire des sorts ou petits demons, abusant ainsi de la credulite des simples. Mon remede fut plus efficace, il fit sortir quantity de vers qui ^talent bien d'autres demons que les leurs, ce qui soulagea fort le petit malade, qui devait guerir, disait-on, pourvu que la Robe noire ne le baptisat pas. C'etait la conviction de ces Sau- vages, et elle etait fondee sur ce que tous les enfants
1672-74] RELATION OF J673-74 219
sacrament, lest they might, later on, profane it by the infidelity in which they usually live when they grow older. Therefore we baptize only the children of Christians and of catechumens, and all who are in danger of death. I count twenty-seven who were baptized this year, — six of whom received baptism with the usual rites, the others without the rites ; and they all died, with the exception of three. This is the most certain fruit that we gather in this country, where it is desirable that the children should die before obtaining the use of their reason. It is diffi- cult to baptize them without medicines. These serve to deceive piously the fathers, mothers, and other relatives, — many of whom still have an aver- sion to baptism, as if it hastened the death of those who receive it. Having been called upon to give some relief to a child, whom all the jugglers and physicians of the village had undertaken to cure, a single one of my medicines had more effect than all the juggleries and remedies of the Savages had produced in six months.
This gave me easy access to the cabin of the sick child. The jugglers pretended that they brought out of the child's body the teeth of bears and dogs, of pigs and deer, human hairs, and similar things which they call otkis, — that is to say, spells or little de- mons,— thus abusing the credulity of the simple- minded. My remedy was more efficacious; it brought out a great many worms, which were cer- tainly demons very different from theirs. This relieved the little patient, who would be cured, they said, because the black Gown did not baptize him. Such was the Savages' conviction, and it was based on the fact that all the children borne by the mother
220 LES RELA TIONS DES jASUITES [Vol. 5a
qu'avait eus la mfere du malade et qu'on avait bap- tises etaient morts apr^s le bapteme. De Ik vient qu'on m'epiait de fort pres lorsque j'allais visiter le malade, et qu'on ne me permettait plus de m'asseoir auprtbs de lui comme auparavant. On poussa la defiance jusqu'k me faire asseoir dans la cabane de I'autre cote du feu, en sorte que je n'y allai plus qu'aux approches de la nuit, afin de baptiser, si je pouvais, le moribond k I'insu de ses parents, qui m'observaient trop exactement pendant le jour; mais toutes mes tentatives furent longtemps inutiles. Enfin, ayant appris que I'enfant etait fort mal, je cachai dans ma main une petite eponge, et j 'allai de nuit le visiter pour la dernifere fois. On ne manqua pas de me raconter le mauvais etat oii il 6tait. Je me levai incontinent disant: «Je puis savoir tout k I'heure s'il va bientot mourir en lui touchant les tempes.)) Et, sans attendre qu'on me repondit, je passai la main sous la couverture ou on avait cache le petit malade, et je le baptisai.
Apr^s deux ou trois mots d'entretien, je me retirai dans la resolution de faire le difiicile et de me faire bien prier en cas qu'on me rappelat. Ce qui est arrive: car I'enfant etant pres d'expirer, le p^re et la mere s'imaginerent que si je le baptisais, peut- 6tre ne mourrait-il pas comme les autres, et que le Maitre de la vie lui rendrait la sante ; mais il mourut avant que Ton m'eut rencontre. Les parents en furent si touches, qu'ils m'apportferent k la chapelle un petit enfant d'un an qui leur restait pour qu'il fut baptise, de crainte qu'il ne mourut comme I'aine, et aussi pour qu'il fut preserve des sortileges et des otkis.
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673-74 22 1
of the patient, and who had been baptized, had died after baptism. Consequently, I was watched very narrowly when I went to visit the sick child, and I was not allowed to sit close beside him, as I previ- ously did. Such was their distrust that I was made to sit on the other side of the fire in the cabin, so that I only went there at nightfall, — in order to baptize the dying child, if I could, without the knowledge of his parents, who watched me too closely during the day. But all my efforts were for a long time in vain. Finally, on learning that the child was very ill, I concealed a small sponge in my hand, and went at night to visit him for the last time. They did not fail to tell me of his dangerous condi- tion. I at once arose and said : " I can tell at once, by touching his temples, whether he will die soon." And, without waiting for an answer, I passed my hand under the blanket that hid the little patient, and baptized him.
After a few words of conversation, I withdrew, — resolved to keep aloof, and to require many solicita- tions, in case I was sent for again. This did hap- pen, for, as the child was about to expire, the father and mother imagined that, if I baptized him, he would perhaps not die like the others, and that the Master of life would restore him to health. But he died before I could be found. The parents were so affected that they brought to me in the chapel a little child a year old, the only one left them, that it might be baptized, — lest it might die, like the older one; and also that it might be preserved from sorceries and from otkis.
A Huron married to an Iroquois woman did not raise so many difficulties in allowing his little
222 LES RELATIONS DBS /^SUITES f Vol. 58
Un Huron mari6 ^ une Iroquoise ne fit pas tant de difficult^ pour laisser baptiser sa petite fille qui se mourait; lui et sa femme me pri^rent d'interceder pour elle aupr^s du Maitre de la vie pour qu'elle fut bienheureuse au ciel apres sa mort.
C'est la coutume des Sauvages d'exposer leurs morts la face decouverte et de les parer de ce qu'ils ont de plus precieux. Je lui mis au cou un petit crucifix attach^ h. un ruban, et priai sur le corps pour le salut du p^re et de la mere, ce qu'ils me firent reit6rer lorsqu'on I'alla porter en terre. Je priai tout haut; et ils en eurent tant de contentement, que la m^re se fit baptiser peu aprfes, et que le pere m'a fait baptiser ses deux autres fiUes. II m'a presse aussi d'accorder la meme grace k son fils, mais je le remis ^ un autre temps, ne le trouvant pas encore assez bien prepare pour recevoir le bapteme.
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 167s - 74 223
daughter, who was dying, to be baptized. He and his wife begged me to intercede for her with the Master of life, that she might be happy in heaven after her death.
It is the custom of the Savages to expose their dead with their faces bare, and to adorn them with their most precious ornaments. I placed upon her neck a small crucifix tied with a ribbon, and prayed over the body for the salvation of the father and mother. They made me repeat this when she was about to be buried. I prayed aloud, and they were so pleased that the mother caused herself to be baptized shortly afterward, and the father made me baptize his two other daughters. He also urged me to grant the same favor to his son ; but I put him off to a future time, as I did not find him sufficiently prepared for baptism.
224 LES RELATIONS DES J^SUITES (Vol.68
CHAPITRE IV.
DE LA MISSION DE SAINT-JOSEPH A GOIOGOUIN.
QUOIQUE le nombre des baptemes ait ^t€, pen- dant cette ann^e, moindre dans cette Mission que les ann^es prec6dentes, la Foi n'a pas laiss^ d'y faire des progres plus solides que par le pass6. Car, tandis qu'elle n'^tait que I'objet du m^pris et meme de la haine des Sauvages, elle a com- mence d'etre estimee et recherchee du plus grand nombre. II n'y a eu, k la v6rite, que vingt-deux enfants de baptises ; mais tous, a la reserve de trois ou quatre, I'ont et6 k la demande de leurs parents. Cette circonstance paraitra considerable, si Ton fait reflexion ^ ce que Ton a dit plusieurs fois, de rap- prehension que tous les Sauvages, qui n'ont point embrass6 la Foi, ont que leurs enfants ne soient baptises, dans la pens^e que le bapteme leur donnera la mort. Mais elle le paraitrait bien davantage si Ton connaissait le g^nie de ces peuples barbares, que leur pen de lumiere rend plus susceptibles de sem- blables craintes et moins capables de s'en d^faire. Outre que 1' experience semble les devoir confirmer dans cette opinion, parce que dans ce pays d'infi- deiite on ne donne ce sacrement de la Foi qu'^ ceux d'entre les enfants qu'on voit "k rextr6mite, et qu'en effet presque tous ceux k qui on le donne meurent incontinent aprfes. De Ik vient que I'afifection qu'ils ont pour leurs enfants, qui va jusqu'k une esp^ce de
1672-74] RELATION OF 1673-74 225
CHAPTER IV.
OF THE MISSION OF SAINT JOSEPH AT GOIOGOUIN.
ALTHOUGH there have been fewer baptisms in this Mission this year than in previous ones, the Faith has nevertheless not failed to make more substantial progress than in the past. For, whereas it was formerly but the object of the con- tempt and even of the hatred of the Savages, it has begun to be esteemed and sought by the majority of them. In truth, only twenty-two children have been baptized; but all, with the exception of three or four, were baptized at their parents' request. This circumstance will seem important when one remem- bers what has been often said respecting the dread felt by all the Savages who have not embraced the Faith, of having their children baptized, for they think that baptism will cause their death. But it would seem of still greater importance if one knew the spirit of these barbarous people, whose ignorance renders them liable to similar fears, and less capable of casting them off. Moreover, experience seems to confirm them in this opinion, because in this pagan country this sacrament of the Faith is administered only to children at the point of death ; and, in fact, nearly all who are baptized die immediately after- ward. Hence their affection for their children, which verges on folly, has always led them to devote all their efiforts to preventing them from receiving that grace. As to the adults, the five who were baptized
226 LES RELATIONS DES j£SUITES [Vol.58
folie, les a toujours portes k faire tous leurs efforts pour empecher qu'ils ne regussent cette grace. Pour les adultes, les cinq qui ont ete baptises sont tous morts apres le bapteme. Trois etaient des An- dastes pris h la guerre ; le P. de Carheil a eu le temps de les instruire avant qu'on les brulat. Plusieurs du meme pays, qui s'etaient sauves apres quelques mois de captivite, leur avaient appris la charite que les Robes noires avaient pour eux aussi bien que pour les Iroquois. lis avaient raconte les caresses que les P^res leur faisaient et la peine qu'ils prenaient de les assister de toutes les manieres imaginables. Ce rap- port les avait dispos6s ^ une docilite beaucoup plus grande que Ton n'en avait trouve jusqu'^ present dans les autres captifs. II y en eut meme un qui remercia le Pere dans la chanson funebre des secours qu'il lui rendait, disant qu'il savait bien qu'il les aimait et que la nation frangaise n'^tait pas du nombre de leurs ennemis.
1672 - 74] R EL A TfON OF 1673 - 74 227
all died after baptism. Three were Andastes cap- tured in war; Father de Carheil had time to instruct them before they were burned. Several from the same country, who had escaped after a captivity of some months, had told them of the charity that the black Gowns had for them as well as for the Iroquois. They had related the kindness shown them by the Fathers, and the trouble taken by the latter to assist them in every imaginable way. This report had disposed them to greater docility than had yet been met with in the other captives. One of them even thanked the Father in his death-song for the succor given him, saying that he well knew that he loved them, and that the French nation was not among the number of their enemies.
228 LES RELA TIONS DES j£SUITES [Vol. 58
CHAPITRE V.
DES MISSIONS DE SAINT-MICHEL ET DE SAINT-JACQUES CHEZ LES TSONNONTOUANS.
SI les Sauvages du bourg de Saint-Michel s'6taient aussi bien ddtach^s des superstitions du pays qu'ils se sont preserves jusqu'^ present du vice de I'ivrognerie, on n'aurait pas de peine ^ en faire de v6ritables Chretiens. La plupart demandent le bapt^me au P. Gamier qui est oblige de le leur refu- ser parce qu'ils ne veulent pas renoncer k quelques danses et autres c6r6monies superstitieuses qu'ils emploient comme rem^des dans leurs maladies. Deux choses rendent leur attachement k ces sortes de f olies plus difl&cile k rompre ; la premiere est la fausse esp6rance de recouvrer la sante par ces moy- ens, la seconde est le profit qu'en retirent plusieurs d'entre eux. Cela n'a pas empeche deux families les plus pauvres de la bourgade de donner un exemple de g^n^rosit^ et de fid^lite k Dieu, d*autant plus admirable, qu'en abandonnant la pratique de ces superstitions, elles se privaient de I'unique secours qui leur restat pour soulager leur pauvret^ et leur extreme indigence. On voit souvent dans ces pauvres barbares de semblables efifets d'une grace puissante, t^moignage Evident d'une vertue h^roique. Une Huronne depuis longtemps chretienne, aprfes avoir v^cu dans une grande innocence jointe ^ beau- coup de d61icatesse de conscience, se sentant attaqu^e
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 - 74 229
CHAPTER V.
OF THE MISSIONS OF SAINT MICHEL AND SAINT JACQUES AMONG THE TSONNONTOUANS.
IF the Savages of the village of Saint Michel had detached themselves from the superstitions of the country as thoroughly as they have hitherto preserved themselves from the vice of drunkenness, we would have no trouble in making true Christians of them. Most of them ask Father Garnier for bap- tism, and he is obliged to refuse them, because they will not renounce some dances and other supersti- tious ceremonies which they use as remedies in their illnesses. Two things render follies of this kind more difficult to cast off : the first is the false hope of recovering health by this means; the second is the profit that many of them derive from it. This has not prevented two of the poorest families of the village from giving an example of generosity and fidelity to God, — all the more admirable since, in abandoning the practice of these superstitions, they deprived themselves of the sole resource that remained to them for relieving their poverty and extreme indigence. One often sees in these poor barbarians similar effects of a powerful grace, which are an evident proof of heroic virtue.
A Huron woman who had long been a Christian, after living in great innocence added to great deli- cacy of conscience, was attacked by a serious illness, and at once sent for the Father to assure him, in the
280 LES RELA TIONS DES J ^SUITES [Vol. 68
d'une maladie grave, fit incontinent appeler le P^re pour I'assurer, en la presence de tons ses parents, qu'elle voulait mourir comme elle avait vecu, dans r^loignement de tout ce qui 6tait contraire ^ la pro- fession du Christianisme. Comme elle se vit bientot assi^g^e des m^decins et des devins du pays qui la pressaient de souffrir au moins qu'on lui apprit la cause de sa mort, elle quitta sa cabane pour se de- faire de leur importunity ; et toute mourante qu'elle etait, elle se fit transporter au milieu de la cam- pagne, d'ou elle envoya chercher le Pere pour venir lui sugg6rer quelques pieuses prieres. Cet acte si genereux merita d'avoir pour recompense en cette vie la conversion de son mari. Pendant qu'elle vivait, il n' avait jamais voulu entendre parler de se faire baptiser ; mais sitot qu'elle fut morte, il a ete le premier ^ demander cette grace avec beaucoup d'empressement. C'est ainsi que Dieu fait paraitre, dans ces pays eloign^s aussi bien qu'ailleurs, qu'il est le Maitre des coeurs, pour les toucher et les attirer efficacement dans le temps et de la maniere qu'il lui plait.
II semble attendre les uns k I'heure de la mort, et se servir de la maladie du corps pour rendre la sante k Tame, ainsi qu'il en usa "k I'egard d'une jeune fille que r infection qui s'exbalait de son corps avait fait d6ja chasser de plusieurs cabanes, quoique les Sauvages soit fort peu delicats en cette matiere. Le missionnaire le fut encore moins qu'eux, et cette odeur infecte ne I'empecha point de se rendre fort assidu ^ la visiter et k I'instruire. II la trouva tres-bien dispos6e par de vives apprehensions des peines de I'autre vie et par des regrets sensibles de s'etre
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 -74 231
presence of all her relatives, that she wished to die as she had lived, averse to everything that was opposed to the profession of Christianity. As she soon found herself assailed by the physicians and diviners of the country, who urged her at least to allow them to learn the cause of her death, she left her cabin to get rid of their importunities ; and, dying though she was, she caused herself to be transported far out into the country, whence she sent for the Father to come and suggest some pious prayers to her. So noble an action obtained for her, as a reward in this life, her husband's conversion. While she lived, he would never hear of being baptized ; but, as soon as she was dead, he was the first to ask for this favor with much earnestness. Thus God mani- fested in these remote countries, as well as elsewhere, that he is the Master of hearts, and touches and attracts them effectively, at such time and in such manner as he pleases.
He seems to await some at the hour of death and to use illness of the body to restore health to the soul. This he did in the case of a young girl, whom the infection exhaled from her body had caused to be driven away from several cabins, although the Savages are not over-sensitive in such matters. The missionary was still less so than they, and the infec- tious odor did not prevent him from being very assiduous in visiting and instructing her. He found her very well prepared for this, by vivid apprehen- sions of the sufferings of the other world, and by deep regret for having abandoned herself to a crimi- nal life. The Father deemed it advisable to grant her the grace of baptism, and he had reason to hasten, for the sacrament was immediately followed
232 LES RELATIONS DES y£SL/TES [Vol. 58
laiss6e aller k une vie criminelle. Le P^re jugea qu'il 6tait expedient de lui accorder la grace du bap- teme ; et il eut raison de se hater, car le sacrement fut incontinent suivi de mort. II en est d'autres que Dieu convertit par I'entremise et par les exhortations de ceux qui ne veulent pas se convertir eux-memes. Un Sauvage du bourg de la Conception a dejk pro- cure le salut k plusieurs de ses parents et n'a pas encore voulu travailler ^ son propre salut. C'est un homme de fort bon sens qui a toujours pris plaisir aux instructions des missionnaires. Comme il a beaucoup d'esprit, il est fort instruit dans les mys- t^res de notre religion; il se dit chretien d 'inclina- tion, quoique sa vie I'ait rendu jusqu'k present indigne du bapteme. Lorsqu'il salt que I'un de ses parents ou de ses amis est dangereusement malade, il le va trouver pour I'instruire ; et afin d'etre cru plus facilement de lui, il I'assure qu'il a longtemps examine ce que disent les Robes noires, et qu'apres cet examen il n'y a rien trouve que de conforme k la verite; qu'au reste, il ne tache de lui persuader que ce qu'il a dessein de faire lui-meme, et qu'il pr6tend bien demander le bapteme lorsqu'il se verra pres de mourir. II dit ces choses si k propos et avec tant d'adresse, qu'il n'en est presque point qu'il ne con- vainque et qu'il ne dispose parfaitement k recevoir ce sacrement, II I'a fait depuis pen si heureusement k regard d'un de ses neveux, age d'environ trente ans, que le P. Gamier fut ravi de la ferveur avec laquelle ce jeune homme demanda le bapteme, et des rares dispositions qu'il apporta pour le recevoir.
Mais de tons les moyens dont Dieu se sert le plus dans ces trois bourgs de Saint-Michel, de Saint-
1672-74] RELATION OF i67?-74 233
by death. There are others whom God converts through the agency and exhortations of those who will not themselves become converted, A Savage belonging to the village of la Conception has already procured salvation for several of his relatives, and has not yet been willing to work for his own. He is a man of great common sense, who has always taken pleasure in the missionaries' instructions. As he possesses much intelligence, he is very well instructed in the mysteries of our religion ; he says that he is a Christian by inclination, although his life has hitherto rendered him unworthy of baptism. When he knows that one of his relatives or friends is dangerously ill, he goes to him to instruct him ; and, in order to be more readily believed by the other, he assures him that he has long examined what the black Gowns say; and that, after such examination, he has found nothing that is not con- formable to truth; he tells him that, moreover, he seeks to urge him only to what he himself purposes to do, and that he fully intends to ask for baptism when he finds his death approaching. He says these things so appositely and cleverly that there are few whom he does not convince, and does not thoroughly prepare for receiving that sacrament. He has recently done this so satisfactorily with regard to one of his nephews, about thirty years of age, that Father Garnier was delighted with the fervor with which that young man asked for baptism, and the rare dispositions that he manifested for receiving it. But of all the means that God most employes in these three villages of Saint Michel, Saint Jacques, and la Conception, which belong to the nation of the Tsonnontouans, that which most effectively converts
•284 LES RELA TIONS DES J ^SUITES [Vol. 58
Jacques et de la Conception qui appartienncnt a la nation des Tsonnontouans, celui qui convertit plus efficacement les Sauvages, c'est la mis^re et 1 'aban- don des creatures. II n'en est pas de mieux disposes ^ 6couter les instructions et de plus faciles ^ obeir aux mouvements de la grace, que de pauvres esclaves ou d'autres personnes destitutes de tout secours et abandonn6es de tout le monde. Ce sont eux qui donnent le plus de consolation au Pere, et qui, au milieu de leurs miseres temporelles, recoivent le plus volontiers la bonne nouvelle de leur bonhenr eternel. Le P^re en a baptise, cette annee, quelques-uns de cette classe, et ils vivent tous en veritables Chretiens. II aurait pu esperer le meme succfes aupres de beau- coup d'autres, s'il avait eu assez de loisir pour continuer a les instruire, et pour assister en meme temps les malades qui ont ete en grand nombre et dont plusieurs sont morts apres le bapteme.
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673-74 235
the Savages is the misery and abandonment of creatures. None are better disposed to listen to the instructions, and readier to obey the movements of grace than poor slaves, or other persons deprived of all succor and abandoned by every one. It is they who give most consolation to the Father, and who, amid their temporal miseries, most willingly receive the good news of their eternal happiness. This year the Father baptized some of this class, and they all live as true Christians. He might have hoped for the same success with many others, had he had enough leisure to continue instructing them, and at the same time to assist the sick; these were very numerous, and several of them died after baptism.
236 LES RELA TIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol. 5g
CHAPITRE VI.
DE LA MISSION DE LA CONCEPTION A TSONNON-
TOUAN.
LE P. Raffeix, qui a soin de cette mission, en ecrit ce qui suit :
Le grand nombre de superstitions qui se sont ramassees ici avec les peuples qui sont venus s'y r^fugier apres la destruction de leur pays, apporte un empechement bien notable k la propagation de I'Evangile. L'eloignement des Fran§ais, chez les- quels les Tsonnontouans ne vont presque point, leur fait trouver etranges les enseignements de notre Foi, parce qu'ils n'ont presque jamais vu personne les croire et les pratiquer. D'ailleurs le libertinage et la corruption des mceurs, qui font souvent approuver et louer publiquement tous les vices, contribuent beaucoup ^ leur faire mener la vie des betes et k les rendre insensibles k tout ce qui regarde le salut. Ce n'est pas qu'en plusieurs d'entre eux on ne voie un tres-bon naturel, et que la plupart ne soient beaucoup moins sujets k leurs passions que les Europeens. Mais dans le regne de la nature corrompue on se laisse aller au mauvais exemple, et ces riches natu- rels, qui feront un jour des merveilles quand la vertu les possedera, sont encore trop faibles pour resister au respect humain. II mourrait bien peu d'adultes sans recevoir le bapteme, si on pouvait les trouver seuls pour les instruire ; mais la honte de passer pour
1672-74] RELATION OF J67S-74 237
CHAPTER VI.
OF THE MISSION OF LA CONCEPTION AT TSONNON-
TOUAN.
FATHER Raffeix, who has charge of this mission, writes of it as follows :
" The great number of superstitions that have gathered here with the tribes who have come hither for refuge, after the destruction of their own country, is a considerable impediment to the propagation of the Gospel. The remoteness of the French, among whom the Tsonnontouans seldom go, makes the teachings of our Faith seem strange to them, because they have hardly ever seen any one who believed and practiced these teachings. More- over, profligacy and the corruption of morals, which frequently cause all the vices to be publicly upheld and praised, greatly contribute to make them lead the life of beasts, and render them insensible to everything regarding salvation. Not that many of them do not possess a very good character, or that the majority of them are not much less subject to their passions than are Europeans. But, in the reign of corrupt nature, they allow themselves to be swayed by evil example; and these rich natures which will one day do wonders when virtue shall possess them, are still too feeble to resist considera- tions of human respect. But few adults would die without baptism, could one find them alone to instruct them ; the shame, however, of passing for believers
238 LES RELATIONS DES J^SUITES [Vol.58
fiddles devant les autres qui ne le sont point, est un grand obstacle ^ leur conversion. Et, pour cette raison, je n'ai pu, cette ann^e, baptiser que dix adultes, qui sont tons morts apres avoir re9u cette grace. Plusieurs, qui prient Dieu quand ils sont seuls dans la chapelle, auraient honte de le faire devant ceux qui ne prient pas. Une jeune femme s'^tait empoisonnee k la suite de graves desagrements qu'elle avaient eprouves. J'allai la voir plusieurs fois dans sa cabane pour lui parler de son salut ; le respect humain I'empeclia de repondre. Je lui portai de temps en temps des remedes et quelques douceurs afin qu'elle agreat plus facilement ce que je lui disais de Dieu, du malheur ou du bonheur eternel de son ame. Tant qu'elle eut aupres d'elle son mari et sa mere, elle ne parla point du tout; je vis bien qu'il la fallait trouver seule et au plus tot, car elle etait a I'extremite. Je m'y rendais quel- quefois si matin ou si tard que je me perdais dans les champs en m'en retournant. Enfin, un jour que son mari etait absent et pendant que sa mere etait allee chercher de I'eau, elle m'ouvrit son coeur, priant Dieu avec beaucoup de ferveur qu'il lui pardonnat ses fautes. Elle ecouta ensuite, tres-volontiers, rinstruction que je lui fis et se disposa a recevoir le bapteme. Tons, il est vrai, ne sont pas k ce point esclaves du respect humain. Un des anciens du bourg me fit appeler et me parla ainsi: «Voici ma niece et ma petite-fiUe qui n'en peuvent plus ; il y a longtemps qu'elles trainent. Dis-leur bien tout ce qui regarde la Priere, afin de les disposer le mieux que tu pourras ^ se faire chretiennes. »
Je serais bien marri que ce vieillard qui n'est pas
1672 - 74] RELA TJON OF 1673 - 74 239
before those who are not, is a great obstacle to their conversion. For this reason, I was able, this year, to baptize only ten adults, who all died after receiv- ing that grace. Many who pray to God when alone in the chapel, would be ashamed to do so before those who pray not. A young woman had poisoned herself, in consequence of serious annoyances that she had experienced. I went several times to see her in her cabin, to speak to her of her salvation ; but human respect prevented her from answering. From time to time I took medicines and some com- forts to her, in order to induce her to consent more readily that I might speak to her of God, and of the eternal unhappiness or blessedness of her soul. So long as her husband or her mother was near her, she would not speak at all ; I saw very well that I must see her alone, and as soon as possible, for she was at death's door. I went there sometimes so early in the morning, or so late, that I lost my way in the fields on my way back. At last, one day while her husband was away, and her mother had gone for water, she opened her heart to me, entreating God very fervently to pardon her sins. She afterward listened very willingly to the instruction that I gave her and prepared herself for baptism. It is true, not all are slaves of human respect to the same degree. One of the old men of the village sent for me, and spoke to me as follows: ' Here are my niece and my granddaughter, who are at the end of their strength; they have been languishing for a long time. Tell them fully all about Prayer, so that thou mayst prepare them to become Christians as soon as possible.'
" I would be very sorry if this old man, who is
ii40 LES RELATIONS DES J^SUITES [Vol. 58
encore baptise perdit pour lui-meme la grace que deux de ses filles, sa niece et sa petite-niece ont re5ue cette annee; et qu'elles ont, il y a lieu de le croire, portee intacte dans le Ciel, car elles sont mortes peu de temps apres le bapteme.
Faisant un jour voyage avec un homme qui reve- nait de la guerre, comme je m'entretenais avec lui de la religion et des mysteres de la Foi, il me raconta qu'un des chefs de leur arm6e, tenant conseil pres du pays ennemi, avait dit qu'il fallait aller sans crainte au combat. «Pour moi, continua-t-il, je suis loin de rien craindre ; car je sais que rien ne nous arrive que par la permission de Celui qui est au Ciel, que j' adore et que j'invoque depuis que j'ai embrasse le Christianisme.)) Qu'il serait k souhaiter que tons eussent le meme courage, et qu'ils pussent s'61ever au-dessus du respect humain !
Je ne saurais exprimer le plaisir que je prenais ^ entendre un vieillard, qui est chretien depuis quelque temps, et qui n'est pas de ce pays. «Ah! disait- il, quand est-ce que le bonheur m'arrivera de me retirer dans le pays de la Foi, chez les Frangais, et de ne plus vivre ici oil Dieu n'est pas encore connu et ou il est si souvent ofEense ! Que je vivrais et mourrais content parmi mes freres les Chretiens de Quebec ou de la Prairie de la Magdeleine ! Si moi et ma famille ne sortons au plus tot de ce pays, mon fils, ma petite fiUe et ma femme y seront exposes k perdre la Foi au milieu de I'infidelite et du liberti- nage, au lieu que s'ils vivaient avec les fideles ils se sauveraient en suivant leurs bons exemples. » II pretend done, a quelque prix que ce soit, se mettre en chemin dans un mois pour aller demeurer k
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 - 74 241
not yet baptized were himself to lose the grace that two of his daughters, his niece, and his grandniece received this year and which there is every reason to believe they carried intact to Heaven, for they died shortly after their baptism.
" While traveling one day with a man who was returning from the war, and while I was conversing with him about religion and the myvSteries of the Faith, he related to me that one of the chiefs of their army held a council near the enemy's country, at which he said that they must go into battle without fear. ' For my part,' he continued, ' I am far from feeling any fear, for I know that nothing can happen to us without the permission of Him who is in Heaven, whom I adore and invoke ever since I have embraced Christianity.' How desirable it would be that all should have the same courage, and that they should rise above human respect !
" I cannot express the pleasure that I felt in hear- ing an old man who has been a Christian for some time, and who is not of this country. ' Ah,' he said, * when shall I have the happiness of withdrawing to the land of the Faith, among the French, and to live no longer here, where God is yet unknown, and where he is so often offended? How contentedly I would live and die among my brothers, the Chris- tians of Quebec or of la Prairie de la Magdeleine! If I and my family do not soon leave this country, my son, my little daughter, and my wife will be in danger of losing our Faith in the midst of infidelity and profligacy; while, if they lived with the faith- ful, they would be saved by following their good examples.' He therefore intends, at any cost, to set out within a month to go and dwell at Quebec ; but
242
LES RELA TIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol. 58
Quebec ; ce ne sera pas sans beaucoup de difficult6s et de travaux. Dieu a ses predestines partout; mais ce bon grain est encore assez rare dans ce pays ; ce sera ^ des fervents et zeles missionnaires, qui viendront cultiver cette terre ingrate et st6rile, k faire multi- plier la semence au centuple.
Du nombre de ces predestines sont particulierement les petits enfants que nous tachons de ne point laisser mourir sans le bapteme. Je I'ai confere k un assez grand nombre cette annee. Quatorze d'entre eux sont morts apres I'avoir regu. Comme ils sont notre gain le plus assure, ils sont aussi notre plus grande consolation, et nous veillons sur eux avec un soin tout particulier. Mais aussi, il faut I'avouer, c'est surtout k I'egard de ces petits innocents que Dieu decouvre les traits de sa providence speciale. Plu- sieurs fois des meres qui n'avaient aucune inclination pour la Foi, me sont venues chercher pour rendre la sante "k leurs enfants malades; j'en ai profite pour les baptiser, et plusieurs se sont envoles au Ciel, apres avoir re9U, par le bapteme, au lieu de la sante du corps celle de I'ame. Depuis six mois j'avais epie un petit enfant tout languissant. Le demon, envieux de la gloire que cet enfant rendra k Dieu pendant toute une eternite dans le Ciel fit qu'on me le cacha. On I'emporta dans une cabane bien eloignee du bourg et bien avant dans le bois. J'appris le matin qu'il etait k I'extremite. Apres ma messe, je me mets en route. L'ange gardien de cet enfant me faisait trouver du monde k tous les endroits ou il y avait deux chemins. Mais je ne serais jamais arrive si trois jeunes gar9ons, qui venait du lieu o^ j'allais et qui s'en retournaient chez eux n'eussent change
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 - 74 243
lie cannot do so without much difficulty and labor. God has his chosen ones everywhere, but this good grain is still very rare in this country ; it will be for fervent and zealous missionaries who shall come here to cultivate this ungrateful and sterile soil, to cause this seed to multiply a hundredfold.
" Of the number of these predestined ones are, above all, the little children, whom we endeavor not to let die without baptism. I have administered it to a fairly large number this year ; fourteen among them died after receiving it. As they are our most certain gain, they are likewise our greatest consola- tion; and we watch over them with most special care. But it must be admitted also that it is espe- cially with regard to those little innocents that God displays the marks of his special providence. On several occasions, mothers who had no inclination for the Faith came to get me to restore their sick children to health. I took advantage of the oppor- tunity to baptize them, and several soared away to Heaven after having received, through baptism, health of the soul instead of that of the body. For six months I had watched a little child who was very delicate. The devil, envious of the glory that this child would render unto God throughout all eternity in Heaven, caused him to be concealed from me. He was taken to a cabin very far from the village, and deep in the woods. I learned in the morning that he was dying. I set out after my mass. The child's guardian angel made me find people at every place where two roads met. But I would never have reached my destination had not three young boys, coming from the place whither I was going, and on their return home, changed
244 LES RELA TJONS DES /^SUITES [Vol. 58
de resolution. lis reviennent done avec moi, mais ils se mettent si fort k courir dans le bois, que je les perdis de vue bien des fois ; je les rejoignis enfin et j'arrivai ^ cette cabane, oil je ne trouvai ni la m^re ni I'enfant moribond. J'envoyai appeler la m^re dans un champ voisin ou elle avait coutume d'aller, j'y allai moi-meme trois fois, et, la derniere, comme je revenais, elle arrivait k la cabane par un autre chemin avec son enfant; et je restai seul avec le petit malade, pendant qu'elle alia querir de I'eau dont je me servis pour baptiser I'enfant qui expira peu apr^s.
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 - 74 245
their minds. They therefore came back with me, but ran so fast in the woods that I repeatedly lost sight of them. At last I rejoined them and reached the cabin, where I found neither the mother nor the dying child. I made them seek the mother in an adjacent field, whither she was in the habit of going ; and I went there myself three times. On the last of these occasions, as I was coming away, she reached the cabin by another road, with her child; and I remained alone with the little patient while she went for the water that I used to baptize the child, who died shortly afterward."
246 LES RELA TIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol. 68
Mission des Iroquois de S.-Frangois-Xavier a
la Prairie de la Magdeleine pendant
les annees 167^ et 1674.
ON met cette Mission an nombre des Missions iroquoises, quoiqn'elle ne soit pas etablie dans le pays des Iroquois, mais parce que ce sont eux en grande partie qui I'ont composee. Elle n'est differente des autres Missions que parce que celles-ci sont melees de Chretiens et d'infideles, au lieu qu'elle ne regoit et ne conserve en son sein que des Chretiens ou que ceux qui ont un veritable des- sein de le devenir. Ceux en effet qui sortent de leur pays pour venir s'etablir en ce lieu ne font ce change- ment que pour quitter I'infidelit^; et si Ton aperce- vait qu'ils n'eussent pas cette volonte, on ne les y souffrirait pas.
Cette relation fera voir que les habitants de la Prairie de la Magdeleine travaillent si heureusement ^ ce dessein, qu'on ne les doit plus considerer comme des Sauvages pleins de fierte et de barbaric, mais comme des hommes parfaitement soumis aux lois, pleins de douceur et d'amour de I'Evangile. Trois choses, depuis la derniere relation, nous ont semble dignes d'etre rapportees : la premiere regarde ceux qui sont venus augmenter le nombre des Chretiens de la Prairie; la seconde, la ferveur de ceux qui y 6taient d6jk etablis; la troisieme est la mort de Catherine Gandiakteiia, qui a donne les premiers commencements ^ cette Mission.
1 672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 - 74 247
Mission to the Iroquois of St. Francois Xavier,
at la Prairie de la Magdeleine, during
the years 1673 and 1674.
THIS Mission is placed among the number of the Iroquois Missions, although it is not estab- lished in the Iroquois country, but because they who compose it are mainly savages therefrom. It differs from the other Missions only because in the latter Christians and infidels are intermingled together ; while it receives and retains in its bosom only Christians, or those who really intend to become such. In fact, they who leave their own country to come and settle in this spot effect this change only in order to abandon infidelity; and, if it were found that such was not their intention, they would not be suffered to remain there.
This relation will show that the inhabitants of la Prairie de la Magdeleine work so happily to this end that they should not any longer be looked upon as arrogant and barbarian Savages, but as men per- fectly submissive to the laws, full of gentleness and love for the Gospel. Three matters, since the last relation, have seemed to us worthy of being told: the first refers to those who have come to increase the number of the Christians of la Prairie; the second, to the fervor of those who were already settled there; the third is the death of Catherine Gandiakteua, which was the beginning of this Mission.
248 LES RELA TIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol. 58
I. DE CEUX QUI SONT VENUS S'ETABLIR A LA PRAIRIE UE LA MAGDELEINE.
LE nombre seul des heureux habitants de cette Mis- sion est une marque de la benediction que Dieu lui donne. En effet, depuis le peu d'annees qu'elle a commence, ce nombre s'est singulierement augment6 et s'augmente encore tous les jours. Mais ce qui est plus remarquable encore, ce sont les moyens dont Dieu se sert k I'egard de ces pauvres Sauvages pour les retirer du pays de I'infidelite et du vice, et pour les attirer en ce lieu ou la Foi et la vertu sont uniquement estimes.
Voici quelques traits de cette conduite misericor- dieuse de la Providence. Un catechumene de la Prairie allant a la chasse rencontre deux ou trois de ses compatriotes infideles; il leur fait un simple narre des exercices de piete qu'y pratiquent les Chre- tiens Iroquois. Ce discours les touche tellement, que non-seulement ils veulent imiter de si beaux exemples, mais qu'ils veulent encore attirer leurs parents au meme dessein. lis retournent en leur pays, ils leur parlent et les persuadent de venir h. la Prairie, et ils les emraenent en bon nombre pour y vivre en veritables disciples de I'Evangile. D'autres Chretiens de cette Mission etant alles vers le nord ou etait le lieu de leur chasse, ont ramene avec eux plus de six families de ces pays lointains. Mais sur- tout comme la Prairie de la Magdeleine est un lieu de grand passage, il ne s'y arrete guere de bande de Sauvages que quelques-uns ne se laissent engager k y rester par I'exemple et par le zele de ceux qui y sont dejk etablis. Aussi, depuis quinze mois, on compte plus de cent quatre-vingts nouveaux Sauuages
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 - 74 24»
I. OF THOSE WHO HAVE COME TO SETTLE AT LA PRAIRIE DE LA MAGDELEINE.
THE number of the fortunate residents of this Mis- sion is alone a proof of the blessings that God pours upon it. In fact, during the few years that have elapsed since it was begun, this number has increased considerably, and still increases every day. But what is yet more remarkable is the means that God uses with respect to these poor Savages, to with- draw them from the land of infidelity and vice, and to attract them to this place, where Faith and virtue are alone esteemed.
Here are some instances of this merciful guidance of Providence. A catechumen of la Prairie, while going to hunt, met two or three of his pagan coun- trymen ; and he gave them a simple account of the pious exercises practiced there by the Christian Iro- quois. This discourse so touches them that not only do they desire to imitate examples so noble, but they wish also to attract their relatives thither, for the same purpose. They return to their own country; they talk to them and persuade them to come to la Prairie ; and they bring them in goodly numbers, to live there as true disciples of the Gospel. Other Christians of this Mission, who had gone toward the north, where their hunting-grounds were, brought back with them more than six fami- lies from those distant regions. But, above all, as la Prairie de la Magdeleine is a place where a great many people pass, hardly a band of Savages stops at it without some of their number being induced to remain, through the example and zeal of those who are already settled there. Thus, during fifteen months, over one hundred and eighty new Savages.
260 LES RELATIONS DES J&SUITES [Vol.58
qui s'y sont fix6s et qui y m^nent une vie exem- plaire. Les missionnaires qui travaillent dans le pays des Iroquois ecrivent que beaucoup d'infidMes de ces bourgades, touches de la meme grace, se dis- posent aussi "k y venir demeurer. On peut done dire en toute verite que cette Mission de Saint- Franjois- Xavier des Pr^s est comme le produit de celles qui se font au milieu de ces nations barbares, et le fruit des travaux des missionnaires qui s'y trouvent actuellement, et du sang de ceux qui dans le passe y ont ete cruellement massacres.
II. DE LA FERVEUR DES CHRETIENS DE LA PRAIRIE
DE LA MAGDELEINE.
SANS repeter ce qu'on a dit dans les autres relations de la ferveur des Chretiens de la Prairie de la Magdeleine, il suffit d'ajouter qu'ils se perfectionnent toujours de plus en plus, et que leur vertu est d'au- tant plus solide qu'elle leur donne plus d'eloigne- ment des vices auxquels les Sauvages sont plus sujets.
L'ivrognerie, qui a tant fait de tort aux autres Mis- sions, n'y a point encore trouve I'entree, et ceux qui y etaient extremement adonnes dans leur pays en con9oivent tant d'aversion des le moment meme oil ils ont embrasse la Foi, qu'ils resistent avec une Constance incroyable k 1' inclination prodigieuse qui y porte tous les Sauvages. Ce fut un miracle sur- prenant de la grace de voir plus de cent Iroquois qui, peu d'annees auparavant s'adonnaient k la bois- son jusqu'k des exces etranges, se trouvant I'hiver dernier environnes d'ivrognes, et des Fran§ais qui, pour les engager plus puissamment k boire, leur
1672-74] RELATION OF 1673-74 251
have settled there and lead an exemplary life. The missionaries who labor in the country of the Iroquois write that many of the injEidels of those villages, touched by the same grace, are also preparing to come and live at la Prairie. It may therefore be said, in all truth, that this Mission of Saint Fran9ois Xavier des Pres is, as it were, the product of those that exist among those barbarous nations, and the fruit of the labors of the missionaries now there, and of the blood of those who were formerly so cruelly massacred in that country.
11. OF THE FERVOR OF THE CHRISTIANS OF LA PRAIRIE DE LA MAGDELEINE.
WITHOUT repeating what has been said in other relations of the fervor of the Christians of la Prairie de la Magdeleine, it suffices to add that they continue to improve more and more ; and that their virtue is all the more solid, since it removes them farther from the vices to which the Savages are most addicted.
Drunkenness, which has wrought such havoc in the other Missions, has not yet found entrance here ; and those who were^ greatly addicted to it in their own country conceive such an aversion to it from the very moment when they embrace the Faith, that they resist with incredible constancy the prodigious inclination that impels all Savages to it. It was a surprising miracle of grace to see over a hundred Iroquois — who, a few years previously, were addicted to liquor to the extent of committing great excesses ; and who found themselves last winter surrounded by drunkards, and by the French, who, in order more readily to induce them to drink, offered them
262 LES RELATIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol.68
offraient de I'eau-de-vie en ^change de leurs pellete- ries, demeurer cependant fermeF" et inflexibles a toutes ces attaques pendant quatre ou cinq mois, bien qu'ils fussent 61oign6s pour lors des missionnaires, Trois seulement se laiss^rent vaincre aux importu- nit6s des Fran9ais; mais ^ leur retour, les anciens tachferent de leur faire r^parer cette faute en letir conseillant d'offrir un present ^ I'^glise. On n'en serait pas demeur6 Ik, mais on les aurait chasses s'ils n'eussent €t€ mari^s k trois des meilleures chre- tiennes de la bourgade.
L'impuret^ est aussi en grande horreur parmi eux. Une femme avait donn6 rendez-vous k un homme qui, comme elle, etait nouvellement arrive et infidele; le P. Fr6min qui dirige cette Mission en etant averti, empecha que I'entrevue eut lieu; mais les bons Chretiens du bourg, et en particulier les parents de cette femme, ne s'en tinrent pas Ik; ils lui sig^ififerent qu'elle s'en retournat d'oh elle ^tait venue, ce qui fut ex^cut^ des le lendemain. Une clir^tienne bien diff^rente de cette infidele avait refu un vetement de la part d'un homme sans penser qu'il songeat k rien de mal; mais des qu'elle put s'apercevoir de son mauvais dessein, elle apporte aussitot le vetement au P. Fr^min et le prie de le donner k un pauvre : « Je n'ai garde, dit-elle, de le porter, puisque je ne peux le regarder sans horreur. A Dieu ne plaise que je veuille jamais l'offenser!)>
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 -74 253
brandy in exchange for their furs — remain, never- theless, firm and inflexible against all these attacks for four or five months, although they were then far from their missionaries. Three only allowed them- selves to be overcome by the importunities of the French ; but, on their return, the elders endeavored to make them atone for this sin by advising them to make a present to the Church. Matters would not have remained there, and they would have been expelled, had they not been married to three of the best Christian women of the village.
They also have a great horror of impurity. A woman had made a clandestine appointment with a man who, like her, was a recent arrival and a pagan. Father Fremin, the director of this Mission, heard of it, and prevented the interview from taking place ; but the good Christians of the village, and especially the relatives of the woman, were not content with this ; they notified her that she was to return whence she had come, and this was carried out on the very next day. A Christian woman, very different from that pagan one, had received a garment from a man, without imagining that his intentions were evil; but, as soon as she perceived his iniquitous design, she at once brought the garment to Father Fremin, and begged him to give it to some poor person. " I shall certainly not wear it," she said, "for I cannot look at it without horror. God forbid that I should ever willingly offend him."
264 LES RELATIONS DES J^SUITES [Vol.58
Relation des Missions au pays des Outaouacs.
CHAPITRE I.
DE LA MISSION DE S". MARIE DU SAULT
ON scait ass^s par les Relations precedentes, qu'elle est cette mission, et Combien grand est I'abort des nations qui y vienent en este pour la pesche du poisson blanc laquelle est fort abondante dans les bouillons du sault par ou se descharge le lac superieur.
C'est ce grand Concours de peuples qui nous a obliges de nous establir dans ce lieu la po'. les Instruire plus commodement, et d'y bastir vne 2e. Chapelle, plus belle encore que la premiere qui fut brusl^e en 167 1 : peu s'en est fallu qu'elle n'ayt este aussi Consomm6e par vn second incendie. bien plus funest6 o^ . le premier, parce qu'il a est^ la suite d'une action des plus tragiques qu'on ait Jamais veu en ce pays, cet accident a eii des suites bien deplorables ; Car il fut precede d'une trahison qui rompit vne paix quasi Concliie, laquelle ouuroit la porte a I'euangile vers la grande nation des nadoissi ; et en outre mis I'efroy dans tout ce pays par le massacre de plus de 2 30 perssonnes et par la Crainte d'une guerre sanglante, qui doit suiure vne si funeste trage- die. Voicy coe elle se passa au printemps de I'annee 1674.
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 - 74 255
Relation of Missions to the Outaouac country.
CHAPTER I.
OF THE MISSION OF STE. MARIE DU SAULT.
WE are sufficiently informed by the preceding^ Relations as to what mission this is, and How general is the resort to it of the nations, who come in summer-time to take the white- fish which abound in the rapids of the sault, where lake superior discharges its waters.*^ ^_
It is this great Concourse of peoples that has com- pelled us to establish ourselves in this place, that we may the more conveniently Instruct them; and to build thereat a 2nd Chapel, yet more beautiful than the first, which was burned down in 1671. Little was wanting that this one also had been Consumed by a second fire, — much worse, by far, than the first, inasmuch as it resulted from one of the most tragic occurrences that had Ever been witnessed in this country. This accident had most deplorable results, For it was preceded by an act of treachery that broke up a peace, almost Concluded, which was about to open the door of the gospel to the great nation of the nadoissi ; and, besides, it spread terror throughout that country by the massacre of more than 2 30 persons, and by the Fear of a bloody war, which needs must follow so dire a tragedy. It occurred in the following manner, in the spring of the year 1674.
♦256 LES RELATIONS DES J&SUITES [Vol.58
MASSACRE DE5 DIX AMBASSADEURS DES NADOUESSI
ET DE VINGT AUTRES SAUUAGES FAICT DANS
LA MAISON DE S". MARIE DU SAULT
LE5 nadouessi nation extremement nombreuse, et belliqueuse au possible estoient les ennemis communs de tons les sauuages qui sont Comprits sous le nom d'outaouac ou algonquines superieurs. lis poussoient mesme leurs armes fort auant vers le nord et faisant la guerre aux Kilistinons qui y habitent par tout ils se rendoient terribles par leur hardiesse, par leur nombre, et par leur adresse dans le Combat, ou entre autres armes ils se seruent de Couteaux de pierre, ils en portent tousjours deux I'un atach6 a leur cinture, I'autre pendeu a leurs cheueux. Cependant vne bande de guerriers de s**. Marie du sault les ayant surpris dans leur pais, et ayant faict quatre-vingt prisonniers sur eux les obligerent a demander la paix. Pour cet effet ils enuoyerent au sault dix d' entre eux des plus hardis pour la nego- cier; lis furent receus auec Joye aussi tost qu'on €ut apris le sub jet de leur venue. II ny eut que les Kilistinons arriu^s depuis peu, et d'autres nomes missisaquis qui non seulement en tesmoignerent du mescontentement, mais encore prirent resolu°°. d'em- pecher que la paix ne fut Conclue, et mesme de massacrer ces dix embassadeurs. ce qui obligea po^. les mettre en seuret6 de les faire entrer dans la mai- son francoise que Ton a batie pour la Comodit^ des missionnaires. Le p. gabriel dr^uilletes se seruit de cette ocasion pos>. les instruire de nos misteres Ils I'escouterent auec tant de docility qu'apres I'instruc- tion ils se mirent tous a genoux, et Joignant leurs mains lis inuoquerent Jesus le maistre de la vie dont
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF t&j3 - 74 257
MASSACRE OF THE TEN AMBASSADORS OF THE NA- DOUESSI, AND TWENTY OTHER SAVAGES, PERPE- TRATED IN THE HOUSE OF STE. MARIE DU SAULT.
THE nadouessi, a nation exceedingly numerous and warlike, were the common enemies of all the savages Included under the name of outaouac, or upper algonquines. They even pushed forward their arms vigorously toward the north ; and, mak- ing war on the Kilistinons who dwell there, rendered themselves everywhere terrible by their daring, their numbers, and their skill in Battle, — in which they use, among other weapons, Knives of stone. Of these, they always carry two, one attached to the girdle, the other suspended by the hair. However, a band of warriors from ste. Marie du sault, having surprised them in their own country and taken eighty of them prisoners, compelled them to sue for peace. For this purpose, they sent to the sault ten of the most daring among them, to negotiate it. They were received with Joy, as soon as the object of their coming was understood. It was the Kilistinons alone, who had lately arrived, — save some others named missisaquis, — who not only expressed their dissatisfaction in the matter, but resolved moreover to prevent the peace from being Concluded. They even determined to massacre the ten ambassadors — a proceeding which made it necessary that the latter, in order to ensure their safety, should be placed in the french house, which had been erected for the Convenience of the missionaries. Father gabriel dr^uilletes took advantage of that opportunity to instruct them in our mysteries. They listened with so much docility that, when the instruction was over, they all knelt down, and. Joining their hands.
268 LES RELATIONS DES JASUJTES [Vol. 58
on venoit de leur parler. Cependant les sauuages s'assemblent a la maison francoise les vns pour Conclure la paix auec le nadoessi, et les autres pour empecher qu'elle ne fut Conclue. on fit tout 1 'imaginable pour empecher que ceux qui entreroient ne portassent des armes, mais coe la fouUe estoit extremement grande, 5 ou 6 se Coulerent sans qu'on leur ostat leurs Cousteaux. Ce fut vn de Ceux-la, Kilistinon de nation qui donna Commencement a tout le desordre qui s'ensuiure: Car s'aprochant d'un nadoessi le couteau a la main, tu Grains, luy dit il, le menassant de le fraper. Le nadoessi sans s'es- tonner luy dit d'un ton fier et d'une mine asseuree, si tu Crois que ie tremble, frape droit au Coeur; et se sentant frap6, il s'escria parlant a Ceux de sa nation, on nous tue mes freres. a les paroUes ces ho**, animes a la vengence, et d'ailleurs fort vigou- reux, et d'une taille aduantageuse se leuent et frapent auec leurs Couteaux sur tons les sauuages assembles sans faire distinction aucune des Kilistinons et des sauteurs dans la penssee qu'ils auoient tous egalement Conspir^ dans le dessein de les assasiner. II ne leur fut pas fort dificille de faire vn grand Carnage en peu de temps veu qu'ils trouuerent cette multitude desarmee qui ne s'atendoit a rien moins qu'a vne semblable attaque. Le Kilistinon qui auoit com- manc6 la querelle fut perce des premiers et iette mort sur la place auec plusieurs autres. ensuite les nadoessi se mirent a la porte de la maison pour la garder et po^". poignarder ceux qui voudroient s'enfuir; mais voyant que plusieurs s'estoient desia eschap6s, et estoient alles querir des armes, ils fermerent la porte sur eux resolus de se defendre
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 - 74 259
invoked Jesus, the lord of life, of whom we had just been speaking to them. Meanwhile, the savages assembled at the french house — part of them to Conclude the peace with the nadoessi, others to obstruct its Conclusion. Everything imaginable was done to prevent those who went in from carrying arms; but, as the crowd was very great, 5 or 6 Slipped in without having their Knives taken from them. It was one of These latter, a Kilistinon by nation, who Began all the disturbance that ensued. Approaching a nadoessi, knife in hand, he said to him, " Thou art Afraid," — threatening at the same time to strike him. The nadoessi, undismayed, replied to him in a haughty tone, and with a confi- dent air, " If thou Thinkest that I tremble, strike straight at the Heart." Then, feeling himself struck, he cried out to Those of his nation, " They are killing us, my brothers." At these words, the men, stirred up to vengeance, — and, moreover, very powerful and of commanding stature, — arose, and struck with their Knives at all the assembled sav- ages, without making any distinction between Kilis- tinons and sauteurs, believing that they had all equally Conspired in the design to assassinate them. It was not very difficult for them to accomplish a great Carnage in a short time, when we consider that they found that multitude unarmed, and expect- ing anything but an attack of that kind. The Kilis- tinon who had begun the quarrel was among the first to be stabbed; and, he, with several others, fell dead on the spot. Afterward, the nadoessi posted themselves at the door of the house, to guard it, and to stab those who would have taken to flight; but, seeing that many had already escaped and gone in
260 LES RELATIONS DES j£SUITES [Vol.58
jusques au dernier souspir. En effet ils se mirent aux fenestres et coe par hasar ils auoient trouu6 quelques fusils de la poudre et du plomb ils s'en seruirent po*. escarter leurs ennemis qui vouloient les brusler en bruslant le lieu ou ils estoient r'enfer- mes, Ils en tuerent ainssi quelques vns qui s'estoient trop auanc^s ; mais malgr6 tous leurs eff ors quelques autres s'aprocherent de la maison, et y ayant apliqu6 de la paille et quelques Canots d'escorce de bouleau y mirent le feu qui les mis [for mist] bien tost en danger d estre Consommes dans les flames. C est ce qui les obligea de donner vne derniere preuve de leur Cou- rage. Car ils sortirent tous dix les armes a la main et auec vne promptitude incroyable ils se iettent dans vne Cabanne faicte de pieux qui estoit proche d'ou ils se defendirent, et ne cesserent de tuer tant que la poudre et le plomb leur dura qui venant a leur manque ils furent acabl^s par le grand nombre de sauuages qui tiroient sur eux, et ils furent tous tues sur la place auec deux femmes qui les auoient acorn pagn^s : vne troisieme fut conseru6e parce qu'on reconneut qu'elle n'estoit que leur esclaue, et qu'elle estoit algonquine de nation. pendant tous ce desordre, et tous ce massacre le feu que les sauuages auoient mis a la maison des missionnaires, s'augmen- toit de plus en plus, et malg^6 tous ce que Ton put faire il Consomma bien tost tout cet edifice, qui n'estoit que de bois, et mis la nouuelle Chapelle qui n'en estoit pas loing, en grand danger d' estre aussi brusl^e. on fit si bien pourtant qu'on la sauua c' estoit vn spectacle horrible de voir tant de morts, et tant de sang Couler en vn si petit espace, et d'y entendre les Cris de ceux qui s'animoient au Combat,
1672-74] RELATION OF 1673-74 261
search of arms, they closed the door against these, resolved to defend themselves to the last breath. In fact, they stationed themselves at the windows ; and as, by chance, they had found some gtms, with pow- der and ball, they used these to disperse their enemies, whose desire it was to burn them by setting fire to the place where they were confined. They killed, in this way, some of those who ventured too close ; but in spite of their efforts, some others came close to the house. These men, having piled up against it some straw and some birch-bark Canoes, set fire to them, which at once placed them in danger of being Consumed in the flames. It was this that drove them to give a last proof of their Courage. All ten sallied forth, their arms in their hands, and with an incredible quickness threw themselves into a Cabin made of stakes, which was hard by ; in this they defended themselves, and ceased not to slay while powder and ball lasted them. When at last these failed them, they were laid low by the great number of ^savages who were firing upon them ; and they, with two women who had accompanied them, were all slain on the spot. A third woman was spared, because they perceived that she was only their slave, and was an algonquin by nation. All the time while this tumult and massacre were going on, the fire which the savages had kindled at the missionaries' house was steadily increasing; and, in spite of all that could be done, it soon Consumed the whole edifice, which was only wooden, and placed the new Chapel, not far away, in great jeopardy of being also burned. Our people did so well, how- ever, that they saved it.^ It was a horrible spec- tacle to see so many dead, and so much blood Shed,
262 LES RELA TIONS DES J&SUITES [Vol. 58
et les gemissements des blesses dans la Confusion d'line populace irrit^e et qui nescoutoit [ne] scauoir[t] presque ce quelle faisoit. Nos sauuages pleurerent quarante des leurs morts ou blesses entre lesquels il y en auoit quelques vns des principeaux et des plus considerables, et les mission''", de leur Cost6 auoient vn grand subjet d' affliction de perdre si tost I'espe- rance d'aller precher I'euangille aux nadoessis q^*. leur auoient faict naistre la paix que Ton estoit prest de conclure auec eux. lis se virent outre cela aban- donnes des sauuages du pais, qui dans la Crainte que les nadoessis, voyant tarder leurs gens ne se doub- tassent de ce qui leur estoit arriue et ne vouleassent tirer vengence de leurs morts, s'escarterent tous et les laisserent exposes a la fureur de leur ennemy. ainssi outre le danger d'estre massacres dans lequel ils sont tous les jours, non seulement au sault mais encore dans tous les autres lieux, ou ils font leur mission. Le progres que I'euangille commen9oit de faire par leur moyen a este beaucoup arrest^ po^. quelque temps. Dieu n'a pas laisse de tirer sa gloire de ces malheurs et de s'en seruir tout ensemble, pour procurer le salut de quelques ames et po^'. faire paroistre les efets extraordifiaires de sa toute puis- sance, Car plusieurs de Ceux qui auoient este blesses tres dangereusement demanderent le baptesme, et I'ayant receu furent gueris de leurs blesseures.
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in so small a space ; and horrible to hear the Cries of those who warmed to the Battle, and the groans of the wounded, amid the Tumult of an exasperated rabble that scarcely heeded [knew] what it did. Our savages bewailed forty of their number, dead or wounded, among whom were some of the leading and most notable men; while the missionaries, on their Side, had great cause for affliction in losing so soon the hope of going to preach the gospel to the nadoessis, which the peace, about to be concluded with them, had inspired. In addition, they saw themselves abandoned by the savages of the country, who — in the Fear that the nadoessis, seeing the delay of their people, would suspect what had hap- pened to them and be prompted to take vengeance for their deaths — all withdrew, and left them ex- posed to the fury of the enemy. Thus, besides the danger of being massacred in which they are every day, — not only at the sault, but in every other place as well where they set up their mission, — The progress which the gospel was beginning to make by their means has been seriously arrested for some time. God has not failed to derive his glory from these misfortunes, and to make use of them, both for procuring the salvation of some souls, and in making manifest the extraordinary effects of his almighty power ; For several of Those who had been dangerously wounded solicited baptism, and, having received it, were healed of their wounds.
264 LES RELATIONS DES jilSUJTES [Vol.68
CHAPITRE IV.
DE LA MISSION DE SAINT-FRANgOIS-XAVIER.
L^^GLISEque nous avons en cette Mission ap- pelle de bien loin les Sauvages qui sont au del^ du Mississipi pour venir demeurer chez les Machkoutens ; elle appelle encore de bien plus loin les Illinois, pour venir s'^tablir en leur ancien pays, vers le lac qui porte leur nom, k six journ6es des Machkoutens.
Ceux qu'on nomme Caskakias y sont d6jk depuis un ou deux ans, ainsi qu'ils I'avaient promis au P. Dablon, lorsque je Taccompagnai dans la Mission des Miamis.
Les autres Illinois, appel6s Peoualeas, viennent peu k peu se fixer en ce lieu, dans la persuasion que la maison de Dieu les prot^gera et les mettra plus en surety qu'ils n'y 6taient autrefois. En sorte que toutes les belles missions qui sont d6jk commencees en ces pays barbares, ne sont pas moins considerables par I'esperance des fruits qu'elles promettent, qu'elles le sont par la multitude des peuples ^ qui Ton y preche I'Evangile.
J'ai d^jk visits les Caskakias et j'ai baptist plu- sieurs de leurs enfants; j'ai port6 les premieres paroles de la Foi aux Peoualeas qui habitent chez les Miamis, et ils m'ont ecout6 avec beaucoup de doci- lity, lis ont meme commence k prier, et ils m'ont
1672-74] RELATION OF 1673-74 265
CHAPTER IV.
OF THE MISSION OF SAINT FRANCOIS XAVIER.
4 4 'TnHE church that we have in this Mission sum- \ mons from a very great distance the Savages who dwell beyond the Mississipi, to come and live among the Machkoutens ; it calls the Illinois from a still greater distance to come and settle in their former country, near the lake that bears their name, six days' journey from the Machkoutens.^^
" Those who are called Caskakias [Kaskaskias] have already been here for a year or two, as they had promised Father Dablon when I was his companion in the Mission to the Miamis.
" The other Illinois, called Peoualeas [Peorias], are gradually coming here to settle, in the conviction that the house of God will protect them,i^and keep them safer than they formerly were. Accordingly, all the fine missions already begun in these barba- rous countries are no less important through the hope of the fruits they promise, than through the multitude of tribes to whom the Gospel is preached there.
" Ihave already visited the Caskakias, and have baptized many of their children ; I have borne the first words of the Faith to the Peoualeas, who dwell among the Miamis, and they have listened to me with much docility. They have even begun to pray, and have promised me to come and dwell
266 LES RELATIONS DES J^SUITES [Vol.58
promis de venir demeurer plus pr^s de nous afin d'avoir la commodity d'etre instruits k loisir.
Les Sauvages de ce pays montrent assez, par les honneurs qu'ils rendent "k leur mode ^ notre sainte Iri^glise, que s'ils ne prient pas encore tons, du raoins ils font estime de la Priere. lis sont bien loin d'en avoir de I'aversion, ou de la craindre comme chose dangereuse, ainsi qu'ont fait tous les autres Sauvages de cette Nouvelle-France, lorsqu'on a commence de leur precher I'Evangile. Quelquefois meme, dans leurs conseils, ils addressent la parole k cette maison de Dieu, et ils lui parlent comme a une chose animee. Lorsqu'ils passent par ici, ils jettent du petun tout autour de I'eglise, ce qui est une esp^ce de culte qu'ils rendent a leur divinit6; et, lorsqu'ils y entrent, ils ne croient jamais en faire assez pour contenter leur inclination d'honorer le vrai Dieu comme la plus grande divinite dont ils aient jamais entendu parler. Ils y viennent aussi quelquefois faire leurs presents afin d'obtenir de Dieu qu'il ait pitie de leurs parents morts. Les Pouteouatamis y sont venus apporter les leurs, et demander pardon k Dieu de ce qu'une croix, que nous avions plant^e pres de leur bourg 6tant tomb6e, a 6te brulee par I'un d'entre eux qui n'en connais- sait pas la valeur.
Dieu m'a appris, cette ann6e, par ma propre expe- rience, qu'il fait misericorde k qui il lui plait, et non pas "k ceux k qui souvent les hommes voudraient qu'il I'a fit. II a permis souvent que mes travaux fussent utiles k ceux k qui je ne songeais pas, et qu'ils fussent inutiles k ceux pour le salut desquels je les entreprenais. Au mois de Janvier, en passant
1672-74] RELATION OF 1&J3-74 267
nearer to us to have the advantage of being instructed at leisure.
" The Savages of this country show sufficiently, by the honors that they pay to our holy Church, after their fashion, that, if they do not all pray as yet, they at least esteem Prayer. They are far from having an aversion to it, or from dreading it as a dangerous thing, as all the other Savages of this New France did when we began preaching the Gospel to them. Sometimes, even, in their councils they address their speeches to this house of God, and speak to it as to an animate being. When they pass by here they throw tobacco all around the church, which is a kind of devotion to their divinity; and, when they enter it, they think that they never can do enough to satisfy their inclination to honor the true God as the greatest divinity of whom they have ever heard. They also come sometimes and offer presents, to beg God to have pity upon their deceased relatives. The Pouteouatamis came here bringing theirs, to ask pardon from God because, when a cross that we had planted near their village had fallen down, it was burned by one among them who knew not its value.
" God has taught me, this year, by my own experience, that he shows mercy to whomsoever he pleases, and not to those to whom men would often desire him to show it. He has frequently permitted that my labors should be of use to those of whom I was not thinking, and to be useless to those for whose salvation I worked. In the month of January, while passing near little lake Saint Frangois, ten leagues from here,^ I came upon a Christian Savage who was dying, and I prepared him for death. I intended to
268 LES RELATIONS DES /^SUITES [Vol.58
aupr^s du petit lac de Saint-Frangois, \ dix lieues d'ici, j'y trouvai un Sauvage chr6tien qui 6tait k I'agonie, et je le disposai k la mort. J'avais dessein d'aller jusqu'k un endroit ou j'ai appris depuis qu'un jeune fran9ais est mort sans confession dans une cabane de Sauvages. Quatre mois auparavant, ce jeune homme avait pass6 devant notre 6glise, et, comme je le pressais de se confesser, il n 'avait pas voulu me croire; Dieu ensuite n'a pas voulu lui faire retrouver 1' occasion qu'il avait negligee.
Etant arriv6 aux Outagamis, on me conduisit chez un pauvre Sauvage qui languissait depuis longtemps. Je le preparai k bien mourir en lui donnant le bap- teme. Dans le meme endroit, quoique je visitasse les cabanes tous les jours, un enfant qui n' avait pas regu le bapteme mourut subitement une heure apres que je fus sortis de la cabane oil il etait.
Ce sont les plus grandes croix dont Dieu afflige un missionnaire ; mais il le console quand il lui plait. Peu de temps apres cet accident, des Sauvages arri- verent en ce lieu; je baptisai un de leurs enfants qui ne faisait que de naitre, et qui mourut un jour apres. Avant que je quittasse les Outagamis, le Saint-Esprit me fit apporter "k notre chapelle deux enfants fort malades ; je leur administrai le saint bapteme, et ils s'envolerent au ciel peu d'instants apr^s mon depart.
Quand j'eus acheve la mission chez les Outagamis, j 'appris que le capitaine miami, qui avait ete mon hote, etait k I'extr^mit^. Je lui avals differ^ le bapteme, quoiqu'il m'eut paru assez dispos6; mais il pouvait difficilement, en qualit6 de capitaine, se dispenser par bienseance de certaines superstitions en usage parmi leurs gpierriers. J'allai chez lui,.
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 - 74 269
go to a place where, as I have since learned, a young Frenchman died without confession, in a Savage cabin. Four months before, this young man had gone past our church ; and, when I urged him to come to confession, he would not listen to me. Afterward, God would not allow him to find again the opportunity that he had neglected.
" When I arrived among the Outagamis, I was taken to a poor Savage who had been languishing for a long time. I prepared him for a happy death by administering baptism to him. At the same place, although I visited the cabins daily, a child who had not been baptized died suddenly, an hour after I had left the cabin in which it was.
" These are the greatest crosses with which God afflicts a missionary ; but he consoles him when he pleases. Shortly after this accident, some Savages arrived at this spot. I baptized one of their chil- dren, who was just born, and who died a day after- ward. Before I left the Outagamis, the Holy Ghost caused two very sick children to be brought to our chapel. I administered holy baptism to them, and their souls soared to heaven a few moments after my departure.
" When my mission among the Outagamis was ended, I learned that the Miami captain who had been my host was dying. I had deferred his bap- tism, although he seemed to be very well disposed ; but it was difficult for him in his capacity of captain to dispense, through politeness, with certain super- stitions in vogue among their warriors. I went to his cabin, but he was not there; and while he was coming to me to be baptized, he died on the way, without baptism. God refused me the salvation of
270 LES RELATIONS DES j£SUITES [Vol.68
mais il n'y 6tait pas; et lorsqu'il venait pour me trouver et pour etre baptist, il est mort en chemin et sans bapteme. Dieu me refusa le salut de cette ame, pour laquelle j'avais entrepris ce voyage; mais ma course ne fut pas inutile ; car, h. la place de ce capitaine, il m'accorda deux autres Sauvages que j'ai admis dans le sein de I'Eglise peu de temps avant leur mort.
1672-74] RELATION OF J&73-74 271
this soul, for which I had undertaken this journey; but my expedition was not fruitless, for, instead of this captain, he granted me two other Savages, whom I admitted to the bosom of the Church shortly before their death."
272 LES RELA TIONS DES j£SUITES [Vol. 58
CHAPITRE V.
DE LA MISSION DE LA FOLLE-AVOINE PRfeS DE LA
BAIE DES PUANTS.
LETTRE DU P. LOUIS ANDR6.
DEPUIS les m^moires que j'envoyai la dernifere fois de plusieurs missions faites en divers endroits, j'ai baptist environ cent personnes, partie enfants, partie adultes. Je commencerai par ceux de la Folle-Avoine, parce que, parmi les Sau- vages de ces contrees, ce sont eux qui ont t^moign^ le plus d'affection au Christianisme, surtout depuis une b6n6diction inesper^e que Dieu a donn^e ^ leur peche, pour fortifier le commencement de leur Foi. Etant arriv6 chez eux sur la fin d'avril 1673, j'assem- blai les plus considerables pour leur dire h. quel dessein j'^tais venu. Je leur demandai aussi ce que signifiait une image du soleil que I'un d'eux avait peinte sur un bout de planche. Cette image 6tait attach^e au haut d'une perche, aussi peinte des plus vives couleurs; et k cette perche on voyait, h. la hau- teur d'un homme, pendre un faisceau de petits bois de cfedre, coup6s comme pour servir k mettre aux filets qu'on emploie h. la peche de I'esturgeon, de meme qu'en France on met du li^ge k toutes sortes de filets. Je m 'informal done h. quel dessein ils avaient dress6 cet espece d'anatheme. Ils me r6pon- dirent que c'^tait un sacrifice, ou plutot, selon I'expression propre de leur langue, une exhortation
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF i&jj - 74 273
CHAPTER V.
OF THE MISSION OF THE FOLLE AVOINE, NEAR THE
BAY DES PUANTS.
LETTER FROM FATHER LOUIS ANDRE.
SINCE the last memoirs which I sent regarding several missions conducted in various places, I have baptized about one hundred persons, partly children and partly adults. I shall begin with those of the Folle Avoine,^ because among the Savages of these countries they have manifested the most affection for Christianity, especially after an unexpected blessing that God granted them in connection with their fishing, in order to strengthen their Faith at the outset. When I arrived among them at the end of April, 1673, I gathered all the most notable persons, to inform them of my inten- tion in visiting them. I also asked them what was meant by a picture of the sun that one of them had painted upon a piece of board. This picture was tied to the end of a pole, which was also painted in the brightest colors; and on this pole, at the height of a man, was suspended a sheaf of small cedar sticks, cut so as to serve as floats for the nets that are used in catching sturgeon, like the pieces of cork that are fastened to all kinds of nets in France. I therefore asked for what purpose they had set up this sort of votive offering. They replied that it was a sacrifice — or rather, to use the proper expres- sion in their language, "an exhortation" — which
274 LES RELATIONS DES /^SUITES [Vm,. 58
qu'ils faisaient au soleil pour le prier d'avoir piti6 d'eux. Comme ils croyaient que le soleil 6tait le maitre de la vie et de la peche, le dispensateur de toutes choses, ils le conjuraient de faire entrer I'es- turgeon dans leur riviere et de favoriser leur peche. Ils m'ajoutaient qu'il y avait longtemps qu'ils atten- daient I'esturgeon dans leur riviere, et qu'ils appre- hendaient qu'il n'y vint pas. En effet, ils avaient sujet de le craindre, puisque I'esturgeon etait d^ja entre dans la riviere de la Pechetik et dans celle d'Oukatoum, qui sont plus eloignees du lac que la riviere des Maloumines. Apres les avoir desabuses sur I'idee qu'ils avaient du soleil, et leur avoir expli- que en peu de mots les points principaux de notre Foi, je leur demandai s'ils seraient bien aises que j'otasse r image du soleil, et que je misse en sa place r image de Jesus crucifie. lis me dirent tous, et a plusieurs reprises qu'ils le voulaient bien, et qu'ils croyaient que Dieu etait le maitre de toutes choses. II etait dejk tard quand ils me donnerent cette assu- rance de leur bonne volonte ; cela n'empecha pas que, pour profiter de ces favorables dispositions, je ne misse mon crucifix k la place de 1' image du soleil. Le lendemain matin I'esturgeon entra dans leur riviere en si grande abondance, que ces pauvres gens en 6taient ravis, et me disaient tous: «Nous voyons bien maintenant que le G6nie qui a tout fait est celui qui nous nourrit. Prends courage, enseigne-nous k prier, afin que nous n'ayons jamais faim.)) Ensuite, la confiance qu'ils avaient en la Priere, et le desir qu'ils avaient de I'apprendre, me les rendaient si dociles et si attentifs que j'en etais surpris; et quoi- que, pour I'ordinaire, je n'appelasse aupres de moi
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 - 74 275
they had made to the sun, to entreat it to have pity upon them. As they believed that the sun was the master of life and of fishing, the dispenser of all thing's, they begged it to send the sturgeon into their river, and to make their fishing prosperous. They added that they had long been expecting the sturgeon in their river and feared that they would not come to it. In fact, they had reason to appre- hend this, for the sturgeon had already entered the Pechetik river and that of Oukatoum, which are farther from the lake than is the river of the Malou- mines.'^ After disabusing them of the idea which they had of the sun, and explaining to them in a few words the principal points of our Faith, I asked them whether they would consent to my removing the picture of the sun, and replacing it by the image of Jesus crucified. They replied, all together and repeatedly, that they consented; and that they believed that God was the master of all things. It was already late when they gave me this assurance of their good will; this did not prevent me from taking advantage of their favorable state of mind, and I put my crucifix in the place of the picture of the sun. On the following morning, sturgeon en- tered the river, in such great abundance that these poor people were delighted, and all said to me: " Now we see very well that the Spirit who has made all is the one who feeds us. Take courage; teach us to pray, so that we may never feel hunger." After that, their confidence in Prayer and their desire to learn it made them so docile and so attentive to me that I was astonished; and although, as a rule, I called only the children to me to pray, the adults themselves listened to us very attentively, and
276 LES RELATIONS DES JPlSUITES [Vol.58
que les enfants pour prier, les adultes eux-memes nous ^coutaient fort attentivement et r^petaient tout bas ce que nous disions k haute voix, soit en priant, soit en chantant. Mais c'^tait principalement vers le soir, lorsque la peche n'occupait plus les hommes ni les femmes, qu'on se rassemblait en plus grand nombre pour prier Dieu dans la chapelle. Les anciens y venaient tous, trois seulement except^s. Plusieurs femmes y ^talent fort assidues, ce que je n' avals pas encore vu. Les Fran9ais qui ^taient avec moi ne pouvaient assez admirer cette ferveur en de nouveaux cat^chumenes, d'autant plus qu'elle nous semblait venir de I'esprit de Dieu. J'en avals une marque assur^e dans I'ob^issance qu'ils me ren- daient, et dans leur docilite ^ se denoircir le visage et "k rompre leur jeune superstitieux. Les guerriers memes m'ob^irent en cela; et il y en eut tres-peu qui se noircissent et qui jeunassent pour rever le Nadouessi leur ennemi. Ceux-memes qui I'avaient fait se d^noircirent le visage aussitot que je leur eus d^clar^ que Dieu 6tait ennemi de leurs songes super- stitieux; et, avant de partir pour la guerre, ils n'offrirent pas de festin au diable et ne firent aucun reve selon leur ancien usage. Mais ils s'adressaient k Dieu en disant: «Nous t'obeissons, nous aimons la Priere, donne-nous la vie.w Je fus surpris moi- meme de cette ob^issance si universelle, et de la promptitude avec laquelle ils parvinrent k se d^faire de ces sortes de superstitions; car je sais par expe- rience combien tous ces peuples y ont un attachement prodigieux. J'avais auparavant employ^ tous les moyens imaginables pour les leur faire quitter ; tous mes efforts avaient 6te jusque-lk k peu pres inutiles;
1672-74] RELATION OF 1673-74 277
repeated in a low tone what we said aloud, while either praying or singing. But it was chiefly in the evening, when neither the men nor the women were any longer engaged in fishing, that we gathered greater numbers together to pray to God in the chapel. All the elders, except three, came there. Several women were very assiduous in their attend- ance, a thing that I had not yet observed. The French who were with me could not sufficiently admire such fervor in new catechumens, all the more since it seemed to be inspired by the spirit of God. I had ample evidence of it in the obedience which they showed me, and in their docility in removing the black from their faces and in breaking their superstitious fast. Even the warriors obeyed me in this, and only very few of them blackened them- selves and fasted in order to dream of the Nadouessi, their enemy. Even those who had done so removed the black from their faces, when I declared to them that God was opposed to their superstitious dreams ; and, before setting out for war, they offered no feast to the devil, nor did they dream any dreams, accord- ing to their ancient custom. But they addressed themselves to God, saying: " We obey thee; we love Prayer ; grant us life. ' ' I myself was astonished at such universal obedience, and at the promptness with which they succeeded in divesting themselves of these superstitions ; for I know by experience how singularly these people are attached to them. I had previously employed every means imaginable to induce them to abandon them ; all my efforts had until then been almost fruitless. But when , God wills to bring about the conversion of the most
278 LES RELATIONS DES j£SUITES [Vol.68
mais lorsque Dieu veut mettre la main ^ la conver- sion des plus endiircis, il fait bien voir qu'il est le maitre des coeurs, ainsi qu'il le fit paraitre h. regard de cette nation, chez laquelle le plus grand jongleur du pays t^moigna prendre plaisir k mes instructions. Cet homme avait une extreme confiance au tonnerre comme ^ une puissante divinity, et, loin de se cacher quand il I'entendait gronder, il faisait tout ce qu'il pouvait pour le rencontrer. Un jour qu'il pleuvait, j'eus occasion d'etre temoin de sa folic; il courait tout nu dans le bois, criant ^ pleine tete, et invoquant le tonnerre par ses chants. A le voir, on Teiit pris pour un demoniaque, tant les mouvements de son corps etaient etranges. II est vrai qu'il agissait ainsi afin qu'on le crut saisi d'un enthousiasme extraordi- naire dont le dieu-tonnerre aurait ete I'auteur. II voulait aussi faire croire qu'il avait un demon familier qui lui communiquait un grand pouvoir pour gu6rir les malades. Je le repris de ses extravagances, et, usant d'une comparaison familiere, je lui dis qu'il avait sujet de craindre que Dieu, qui se sert du ton- nerre comme un chasseur se sert de son fusil, ne le dechargeat sur lui et ne le fit mourir sur I'heure. II me promit de ne plus invoquer le tonnerre; et, en effet, quelques jours apres, quoiqu'il plut et qu'il tonnat, je ne I'entendis pas crier, ni chanter a son ordinaire.
J'aurais baptist la plupart des gens de cette nation si je n'eusse pens^ qu'il 6tait plus k propos de les eprouver et de les diff6rer ^ un autre temps. Je me contentai done de baptiser vingt-deux petits enfants, et deux adultes qui moururent peu de temps aprfes, mais avec des marques bien differentes de leur
1672 - 74] RELA TION OF 1673 - 74 279
hardened, he clearly shows that he is the master of hearts, as he manifested in the case of this nation, the chief juggler of which showed that he took pleasure in my instructions. This man had an ex- ceedingly great confidence in thunder as a powerful divinity; and, far from hiding when he heard it rumble, he did all that he could to meet it. One day, when it rained, I had an opportunity of witness- ing his madness ; he ran about in the woods, entirely naked, crying aloud and invoking the thunder by his songs. On seeing him, one would have taken him for a demoniac, so strange were the movements of his body. It is true, he acted thus in order to lead to the belief that he was seized with an extraordinary enthusiasm, of which the thunder-god was the author. He also wished it to be believed that he had a familiar demon, who imparted to him a great power for curing the sick. I reproved him for his folly, and, making use of a homely compari- son, I told him that he had reason to fear lest God, who uses lightning as a hunter does his gun, should discharge it at him, and make him die instantly. He promised me that he would no longer invoke the thunder ; and in fact, a few days afterward, although it rained and thundered, I did not hear him cry out or sing as he was wont to do.
I would have baptized most of the people belong- ing to this nation, had I not thought it was more advisable to test them, and to put them off to another time. I therefore contented myself with baptizing twenty-two little children, and two adults; these latter died shortly afterward, but with very different evidences of their eternal happiness or unhappiness.
280 LES RELATIONS DES j£SU/TES [Vol.58
bonheurou de leurmalheur^ternel. L'und'eux, qui ^tait Stranger et malade depuis deux ans, s'endormit bientot du sommeil des predestines; I'autre, qui n'6tait malade que depuis peu de jours, fit venir des jongleurs apr^s son bapteme, quoiqu'il m'eut protest^ qu'il d^testait toute espfece de superstition ; aussi sa mort nous a singuli^rement afflig^s.
1672-74] RELATION OF 1673-74 281
One of them, a stranger who had been ill for two years, soon slept the sleep of the predestined; the other, who was ill for a few days only, sent for the jugglers after his baptism, although he had assured me that he detested superstitions of all kinds ; con- sequently, his death deeply afflicted us.
282 LES RELATIONS DBS j£SUITES [Vol. 58
CHAPITRE VI.
DE LA MISSION D'OUASSATINOUN. LE P. ANDRE CONTINUE SON REGIT.
J?AI €i€ trois fois dans cette Mission, et j'y ai baptist environ quarante personnes. J'ai trouv6 de grandes dispositions k la Foi parmi ces peuples, qui portent le nom d'Ouassatinoun ; mais ces dispositions ont port6 plus particulierement leur fruit apres le depart de la jeunesse pour la guerre. Car alors la plupart de ceux qui restaient dans le bourg sont venus tres-assidument h. la chapelle pour prier et pour etre instruits. Je n' avals nul besoin, comme par le passe, de les aller cbercher dans leurs cabanes, ils venaient d'eux-memes me trouver; en sorte que plusieurs Fran9ais, qui les avaient vus auparavant dans un grand ^loignement des instruc- tions et de la Pri^re, etaient tout surpris d'un si merveilleux cbangeraent. Je dois dire qu'entre tous les autres, il n'y en avait point de plus soigneux et de plus diligents k se rendre aupres de moi que les jeunes gargons et les jeunes filles, ce qui m'a donne une grande esp6rance de voir dans la suite du temps toute cette nation convertie au Christianisme. En effet, si d^s leur bas age ils se portent avec tant d'ardeur k ^couter et k pratiquer ce que je leur dis pour leur salut, il est k croire qu'ils ne I'oublieront pas entierement quand ils seront arrives a I'age mur, et que ces premieres impressions, que leur avidite k
1672-74] RELA TION OF 1673-74 283
CHAPTER VI.
OF THE MISSION OF OUASSATINOUN. FATHER ANDRE CONTINUES HIS RECITAL.
I HAVE been three times at this Mission, and have baptized about forty persons in it. I found strong inclinations to the Faith among these peoples, who bear the name of Ouassatinoun ; ^ but these sentiments bore fruit more especially after the departure of the young men for war. For then the majority of those who remained in the village came most assiduously to the chapel, to pray and be instructed. It was not necessary for me, as in the past, to go and seek them in their cabins ; they came to me of their own accord ; so that several of the French, who had formerly seen these Savages keep- ing aloof from the instructions and from Prayer, were quite astonished at so wonderful a change. I must say that, among all the others, none were more attentive or more diligent in coming to me than were the young boys and girls ; this has given me great hope of seeing the whole of this nation con- verted to Christianity in the course of time. In fact, if in early youth they are so ardently inclined to hear and practice what I tell them for their salvation, there is reason to believe that they will not forget it entirely when they attain mature age; and that these first impressions, which become deeper and more lasting through their eagerness to receive them, will not be very easily effaced. This end will
284 LES RELATIONS DES J&SUITES [Vol.58
les recevoir rend plus fortes et plus profondes, ne s'effaceront pas si facilement. On I'obtiendra encore plus surement si Ton continue, par de fr^quentes Missions, a les faire ressouvenir des v^rites auxquelles ils prennent maintenant tant de plaisir, Je trouve dans ces pens^es un adoucissement ^ la peine que me cause I'endurcissement des personnes plus ag6es. Ces pauvres gens ont du moins cela de bon, qu'ils n'empechent pas leurs enfants de profiter des instruc- tions dont ils ne veulent pas profiter eux-memes. Quelques-uns, cependant, ne sont pas si rebelles ^ la grace; deux vieillards malades se sont signal^s, Fun pour avoir cess6 de recourir aux superstitions du pays pour sa guerison, aussitot que je I'eusse averti qu'il faisait mal, et I'autre pour n'y avoir jamais eu recours, depuis qu'il avait entendu dire au Sault- Sainte-Marie qu'elles etaient criminelles.
Lorsque les jeunes gens furent revenus de la guerre, je les trouvai plus dociles qu'ils n'etaient auparavant. Leur impiete, aussi bien que leur lachete, contribua beaucoup a ce changement. Avant que de partir pour la guerre, ils avaient fait plusieurs festins au diable et ils s'6taient servis du bois de la croix pour allumer leur feu; mais ces impies, qui etaient au nombre de deux cent quarante, n'eurent pas seulement le coeur d'attaquer les ennemis qu'ils etaient alles chercber, et ils s'en revinrent, comme des fuyards, sans avoir os6 en regarder un seul. A lenr retour, je leur fis un compliment qui ne leur etait guere agr^able. «C'en est fait, leur dis-je, il n'y a plus de Nadouessis; vous les avez tous tu6s, tant le diable vous a donn6 de courage, en recom- pense des festins que vous lui avez faits et du bois
1672-74] RELATION OF 1&J3-74 285
be more surely attained if we continue, by frequent Missions, to remind them of the truths in which they now take such pleasure. I find in these thoughts an alleviation of the sorrow caused me by the hard-heartedness of the older persons. There is at least thus much good about these people, that they do not prevent their children from profiting by the instructions by which they themselves do not choose to benefit. Some, however, are not so rebel- lious to grace. Two sick old men have distinguished themselves : one by ceasing to have recourse to the superstitions of the country for his cure, as soon as I warned him that he was wrong in doing so ; the other, by never having had recourse to them since he heard at Sault Sainte Marie that they were criminal.
When the young men returned from war, I found them more docile than they had previously been. Their impiety as well as their cowardice had greatly contributed to this change. Before going to war they had held several feasts in honor of the devil, and had used the wood of the cross to kindle their fires. But these impious men, to the number of two hundred and forty, had not even enough courage to attack the enemies whom they had gone to seek; and they came back as fugitives, without daring to look at a single one. On their return, I paid them a compliment that was not very agreeable to them. "It is all over," I said; "there are no more Nadouessis; you have killed them all, so great was the courage with which the devil inspired you, as a reward for your feasts and for the wood of the cross that you burned." As I continued to insult them, one of them said to me: " Be silent, thou dost anger
286 LES RELATIONS DES j£S(/ITES [Vol. 58
de la croix que vous avez brul6. » Comme je conti- nuai de les insulter, un d'entre eux me dit: «Tais-toi, tu faches les guerriers.)) Je parus plus fier que lui, et je lui r^pondis d'un ton plus ferme que n'avait ^te le sien: «Taisez-vous, vous autres qui haissez la Priere et qui craignez la mort. Je ne vous crains point du tout, je ne crains que Celui qui a tout fait ; c'est lui qui me donne du coeur et qui fait que je vous m^prise. Tuez-moi si vous voulez, j'en serai bien aise, car j'irai au ciel. »
Ensuite je leur parlai des victoires du roi sur les ennemis de la croix. lis me prierent de les laisser entrer dans notre eglise neuve. Mais je leur refusai cette grace, et je leur repondis que quand I'experience m'aurait fait voir qu'ils avaient renonc6 au diable et aux songes, je les ferais prier Dieu. Les plus diffi- ciles et les plus obstines d'entre eux me sont venus trouver avant que de partir pour leur hivernement, et m'ont demande si instamment que je les fisse prier que je n'ai pas pu m'en defendre, et que j'ai cru utile de c^der a leurs instances.
Une chose qui a donne beaucoup d'autorit^ au bapteme, a ete la guerison d'un jeune homme malade h. qui je I'avais confere. On avait voulu lui persua- der de recourir aux superstitions des jongleurs ; mais il ne voulut pas y consentir et il m'envoya querir par son frere. Dfes qu'il m'aperfut, il me dit que je savais bien qu'il avait toujours prie, et qu'ainsi je ne lui refusasse pas la grace du bapteme. Je le bap- tisai en effet, et il regut la sante du corps peu apres avoir re9u celle de I'ame. La guerison de ce jeune homme, jointe h la mort d'un enfant pour la sant6 duquel les jongleurs les plus celebres n 'avaient rien
1672-7 4] RELA TION OF 1673 - 74 28T
the warriors. ' ' I showed myself to be prouder than he, and I replied to him in a firmer tone than his : " Be silent yourselves, ye who hate Prayer and who fear death. I fear you not at all; I fear but Him who has made all; he it is who gives me courage and makes me despise you. Kill me, if you will; I will be very glad, for I shall go to heaven."
Then I spoke to them of the king's victories over the enemies of the cross. They begged me to let them enter our new church ; but I refused them this favor, and replied to them that I would make them pray to God when experience should have shown me that they had renounced the devil and dreams. Those among them who were the hardest to influ- ence, and the most obstinate, came to me before leaving for their winter quarters, and begged me so earnestly to make them pray that I could not resist; and I thought proper to accede to their request.
One thing that gave great authority to baptism was the cure of a sick young man, to whom I had administered it. Attempts were made to induce him to have recourse to the jugglers' superstitions, but he would not agree to it, and sent his brother for me. As soon as he perceived me, he said to me that I knew well that he had always prayed, and that therefore I should not refuse him the grace of baptism. I did, in fact, baptize him, and he was restored to bodily health, shortly after he had obtained that of his soul. The cure of this young man, added to the death of a child, for the recovery of whose health the most celebrated jugglers had spared no pains, gave me an opportunity which I did not miss, for casting discredit upon the enemies of Prayer.
288 LES RELA TIONS DES j£SUITES [Vol. 68
^pargn^, me fournit une occasion, que je ne manquai pas, de discr6diter les ennemis de la Priere.
Les Sauvages d'Ouassatinoun 6tant tous partis pour aller jusqu'k I'extremit^ du cap Illinois, je finis ma derniere Mission en cet endroit. Si j'avais eu quelqu'un qui se fut charg^ de me conduire, je les aurais suivis, et ainsi j'aurais eu le moyen d'instruire en meme temps les Illinois, les Potiteouatamis, les Oussakis, les Nessouakoutoun, et une partie des Outaouasinagous. D'autres Sauvages, appeles Ma- loumines, m'avaient promis d'hiverner au bord du lac Illinois, si je voulais les assurer que j'irais aussi ; mais comme je n'avais pas pu leur en donner I'assu- rance, ils 6taient tous disperses lorsque j'y suis arrive. Je fus un mois et demi sans Sauvages, enfer- m6 et comme assieg6 par les glaces; car, des le i6 novembre, la riviere de la Folle-Avoine fut entiere- ment gel6e pour tout le reste de I'hiver. Je serais cependant parti pour aller ailleurs, si je n'etais tombe malade. J'ai done 6te oblige de demeurer au meme endroit, et j'y ai eu grand besoin, en meme temps, et de patience pour souffrir le froid et la maladie, et de confiance en Dieu pour me fortifier contre la crainte des Nadouessis. Mais, au milieu de mes peines, je n'ai pas laisse de me consoler par I'attente de plusieurs Sauvages qui doivent se rendre au bord du lac Illinois sur la fin de Janvier.
lt)72-74J RELATION OF i&^j -74 289
As the Savages of Ouassatinoun had all left to f^o to the extreme end of cape Illinois,'^" I finished my last Mission at this place. If I had had any one who would have undertaken to guide me, I would have followed them, and thus have had an oppor- tunity to instruct at the same time the Illinois, the Pouteouatamis, the Oussakis, the Nessouakoutoun, and a part of the Outaouasinagous. Some other Savages, called Maloumines, had promised me to winter on the shore of lake Illinois, if I would assure them that I would go there also ; but, as I was unable to give them this assurance, they had all dispersed when I arrived there. I was without any Savages for a month and a half, shut in and, as it were, besieged by the ice; for, as early as the i6th of November, the river of the Folle Avoine was com- pletely frozen over for the remainder of the winter. I would, however, have started to go elsewhere, had I not fallen ill. I was therefore compelled to remain at the same spot; and I was in great need, at the same time, of patience to enable me to endure the cold and illness, and of confidence in God to fortify me against dread of the Nadouessis. But, in the midst of my troubles, I have not failed to console myself by the expectation that many Savages will arrive, who are to come to the shore of lake Illinois about the end of January.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DATA: VOL LVIII
CXXX
For bibliographical particulars of the Relation of 1672-73, see Vol. LVIL The report, presumably by Dablon, upon the " Mission de Saint- Fran5ois- Xavier des Pres," for 1672-73, appended to this Relation, we obtain from Douniol's Relations incites, t. i., pp. 179-189.
CXXXI
Of Dablon' s Relation de la Decouverte de la Mer du Sud, dated August i, 1674, there are two published versions: (i) In Douniol, t. i., pp. 193-204; Roche- monteix (//suites, t. iii., p. 23, note i) says that this document is " not exactly reproduced " there. (2) In Margry's De'couvertes et /tablissements des Fran^ais, t. i., pp. 262-270 — which, Rochemonteix says, " gives its text very nearly as we read it in the Roman MS." We accordingly reprint the document from Margry's version.
CXXXII
The original MS. of Dalmas's Voyage Autour de V Isle Jesus rests in the archives of St. Mary's College, Montreal. It has not before been published.
CXXXIII
In publishing the Relation of 1673-74, we have had recourse for the greater part thereof to Douniol,
292 LES RELA TIONS DES /^SUITES
t. i. We have, however, changed the sequence as there given, preferring a rearrangement of the mate- rial to suit the usual order of publication in Dablon's various Relations. The account of the " Mission Huronne de no.stre Dame de Foy " is from pp. 295- 318; the " Relation .... aux Missions iroquoises, " is from pp. 235-278; the " Mission des Iroquois de S.-Fran9ois-Xavier a la Prairie de la Magdeleine," is from pp. 279-293. Of the " Relation des Missions au pays des Outaouacs," we obtain Chaps, iv.-vi. from pp. 219-233 of Douniol, as above; but for Chap. i. of Douniol (pp. 205 -210), we substitute Chap, i. of Dablon's MS. Relation of 1673-79, the original of which is in the archives of St. Mary's College, Montreal; while Chaps, ii. and iii. of the Douniol text (pp. 211 -219) we omit from the present volume for reasons assigned in note 23 (p. 297, post).
NOTES TO VOL LVIII
(Figures in parentheses , following number of note, refer to pages
of English text.)
1 (p. 23). — Cf. this enumeration with Dablon's statement regard- ing the same village, when he visited it in the autumn of 1670 (vol. Iv., pp. 199, 201); with the Mascoutens he then found the Oumami (Miamis), " who form one of the Nations of the Ilinois," — the two ti-ibes numbering more than 3,000 souls. AUouez now counts, two years later, nearly two hundred cabins of savages, more than double the above population. To the two tribes above named have been added the Kickapoos, who in 1670 were sojourning at a place four leagues distant from the Mascouten village ; a large reinforcement of Miamis, and twenty cabins of other Illinois savages ; and a few Ouiatanons (called Weas by the English) a tribe allied to the Miamis, who in 1694 were residing at Chicago, and later on the Wabash river.
2 (p. 43). — The Outagami village had also become, dvudng the two years since Dablon's visit, a refuge for other Algonkin tribes. Ouagoussak, here mentioned, means simply " the Fox people." The Makoua were probably the Bear clan of the Ojibwas ; the Mikissioua, the Eagle clan ; the Atchatchakangouen, the Crane clan. See the list of Ojibwa clans and their totems, g^ven by Warren, in Minn. Hist. Colls., vol. v., pp. 44, 45. The Makoucou6 are, by Butterfield {Disc, of N. W., p. 56, note 3), identified with the Mantou6 of Rela- tion of 1640, and the Nantoueof Relation of 1671 ; cf. vol. xliv., note 21. The Kaskaskias (Kakachkiouek), Peorias (Peoualen), and Moingonas (Mengakonkia) were all Illinois tribes or clans ; the others here named cannot be satisfactorily identified.
3 (P- 43)- — Dablon relates a similar incident (vol. Iv., p. 193) in his voyage up the Fox River in 1670. He found at La Croche rapid, above Wrightstown, a rock to which the savages paid idolatrous honors as they passed it ; the Fatlier had his men throw this rock into the river.
4 (p. 49). — In the origpinal MS., the page ends here; and there are pasted into the "cahier," at this point, fovu- pages in Dablon's handwriting, which replace those deleted by him in Lamberville's MS.
294 LES RELA TIONS DES jfi.SUITES
5 (P- 75)- — The name of St. Fran9ois Xavier des Pres was now given by the Jesuits to the mission begun in 1669 by Raffeix (vol. xlvii., note 28; vol. xlviii., note i) and continued by Fremin.
6 (p. 93). — See sketch of Joliet's life in vol. 1., note 19.
7 (p. 95). — This route was that of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers; the well-known portage between them has given name to the Wiscon- sin city of Portage. See the interesting map of the Great Lakes and the portages connecting them with the Mississippi river-system, g^ven by Winsor from a Paris map of Joliet's time, in Mississippi Basin, pp. 28, 29. The Wisconsin River is nearly 600 miles long, and flows S. and W. into the Mississippi. It is navigable for steam- boats as far as Portage (145 miles), where a government ship-canal, cut along the old portage trail, unites the Fox and Wisconsin rivers.
8 (p. 103). — At this point are added, in the Douniol edition (p. 201), the words par ce qtie nous 7)oyons . . . ; and Martin .states, in a footnote, that ' some words are here lacking in the manuscript." This, and various important differences in the text, show that Margry and Martin used different copies of this document; the former states that it "is found only in the Roman collection," the latter does not indicate the source of his publication. Margry's version is, however, much more satisfactory to the historical student, for it bears reasonable marks of authenticity; while that in Douniol has been so ' ' edited ' ' that the reader hardly knows whether or not to rely upon it.
The additional phrase and the hiatus above mentioned may be a reference to the map dravsm by Joliet.
9 (p. 105). — The river named St. Louis by our explorers is that since known as the Illinois, from the savage tribes dwelling upon its banks. It is about 350 miles long, and flows W. and S. W. into the Mississippi ; it is navigable for its entire length.
10 (p. 105). — Regarding the fort here mentioned, see vol. Ivii., note 3. Catarakoui (Katarokoui, etc. ; A'^. Y. Colon. Docs, show 52 variations of this name) was at that time probably the most im- portant point above Montreal, commercially and strategically, and was a center for military operations in the long conflict between the French and English; in 175S it was destroyed by Bradstreet's expe- dition. After the conquest of Canada, the place was settled by English colonists, and called Kingston ; it became incorporated as a city in 1838. Its strategic importance has occasioned the city to be heavily fortified ; it is, ' ' after Quebec and Halifax, the strongest fort in the Dominion" (Lovell's Gazetteer).
11 (p. 107). — Reference is here made to Chicago harbor.
i2^(p. 113). — Fran9ois Frison (Frigon or Frizon, in Suite), born
NOTES TO VOL. LVIII 29r
in 1650, married Marie Chamboy, by whom he had seven children; he died in May, 1724. The census of 1681 shows that this family were then living at Batiscan.
13 (p. 113). — Probably Zacharie Dupuis (vol. xliii., note 17). In 1672, he had obtained the grant of Isle aux Herons and adjacent islets, below Lachine rapids; and, in 1671, the fief of Verdun, from St. Sulpice.
14 (p. 117). — This MS. is undated, as to year; but the date here given, "Monday, Sept. 24," and the fact that Dalmas was at La Prairie only in 1674 during the years when that day of the month could come on Monday, fix the date of the MS. in 1674.
15 (p. 117). — For notice of La Chesnaye, see vol. xlviii., note 12.
16 (p. 123). — The Lake of Two Mountains is an expansion of the Ottawa River, near its mouth ; it is 24 miles long, its width varying from one to six miles. The seigniory of the same name, lying upon its shores, was granted to the Seminary of St. Sulpice in 171 7 (with augmentations in 1733 and 1735), and still remains in its possession. The Sulpitians still maintain upon its lands their early-begun mission for the Indians, who long composed two villages, one Algonkin and one Iroquois ; these are now practically one, called Oka.
17 (p. 123). — Frangois Marie Perrot came to Canada with Talon, in 1670, as governor of Montreal. In the same year he married a niece of Talon, Marguerite la Guide, by whom he had six children. In 1672, he obtained the grant of Isle Perrot and neighboring islets ; upon the former he established a trading post, where he carried on an extensive traffic with the savages, especially in intoxicating liquors. Moreover, he encouraged and protected the com-eurs de bois in their illicit trade ; and finally arrogated to himself the admin- istration of justice, which was the prerogative of the Sulpitians, as seigniors of the island. His conduct became so tyrannical that Frontenac arrested him, and sent him to France (November, 1674). The king imprisoned him in the Bastile for a short time, and then restored him to his governorship, which he held until 1684, when he was appointed governor of Acadia. Having lost this position in the spring of 1687, he remained in the country as a trader. In i6go he was captured by the English, then in possession of Port Royal ; but escaped soon afterward. PeiTot was still in Acadia in 1691 ; the date of his death is not recorded. He was a selfish, unscrupulous, and avaricious man, and did not hesitate to violate the laws of the country when he could thus add to his own gains.
18 (p. 125). — Antoine Dalmas was bom at Tours Aug. 4, 1636, and became a Jesuit novice Oct. 8, 1652. His studies were pursued at La Fleche, Bourges, and Paris ; and he was an instructor at Tours,
296 LES RELA TJONS DES J^SUITES
La Flecht, Hesdin, and Blois successively. Coming to Canada in 1670 (according to Father Jones; Rochemonteix says 1671), he spent two years at the college of Quebec, in preparation for his labors among the savages. During 1673-74, he was stationed at La Prairie; in 1675, at Cap de la Madeleine; during 1676-80, at Sillery, where he spent much time in studying the Indian tongues; and the next ten years wei'e spent in the Tadoussac mission, except that, during 1683, he was teacher in the college of Quebec. In 1691, he went to Hudson Bay to aid Silvy ; and there was assassinated by a Frenchman, March 3, 1693. An account of his death (without dates) is given by Marest in a letter written about 1695 ; it is published in Lettres Ad/fiantes (Toulouse, iSio), t. vi., pp. 3-7. In this account of Dalmas's labors, we have mainly followed data furnished by Father Jones, from Martin's copy of the Jesuit Catalogues; Roche- monteix's a-ccount' {/estates, t. iii., pp. 273-276) differs in some particulars. An additional (and somewhat conflicting) item of infor- mation is furnished by the Montagnais MS. at Quebec (vol. xlvi., note II ; and vol. Ivi., note 3), in which Cr6pieul says, under the head of "Precious Deaths:" "In the year 1693, the Reverend Father Antoine Dalmas, having been withdrawn from the curacy of Notre- Dame de Foy, came with me as far as chegoutimy, where, and at the Lake [St. John] he had wintered for several years. Thence he was sent to the Bay of Hutson, where on March 3, he was slain by a wretched Frenchman ; the surgeon also was killed, a little while before, by the same man."
19 (p. 131). — The Huron village was removed at this time (De- cember, 1673) to a site on a branch of St. Charles River, within the limits of St. Gabriel seigniory, the property of the Jesuits (vol. vi., note 8). A village still exists there, known as Ancienne Lorette; but the remnant of the Hvu"on Indians reside at Jeune Lorette (com- monly known also as "Indian Lorette"), eight miles from Quebec, whither they were removed in 1697. — See Bouchette's account of these Indians, in his Topog. Diet, of Lower Canada, under article "Indian Lands and Indians." Cf. Rochemonteix's y/.y»//^j, t. ii., pp. 124-127. Bouchette says that in 1821, the population of Jeune Lorette was 137; Tailhan states {Perrot, p. 311) that in 1861 it counted 261 Hvu-ons.
Martin Bouvart, one of the Fathers in charge of these Hurons, wrote a historical and descriptive account of Lorette, which will appear in vol. Ix. of this series. An interesting historical sketch of Lorette wi'itten by Rev. L. St.-G. Lindsay, with valuable annota- tions, is now (November, 1899) appearing serially in Revue Cana- dienne.
NOTES TO VOL. LVIII 297
20 (p. 131). — Samuel (or Martin) Bouvart was bom at Chartres, Aug. 15, 1637, and at the age of twenty-one became a Jesuit novice at Paris. His studies were pursued at La Fleche and Rouen, and his term as instructor at Amiens and Eu. Coming to Canada in 1673, he spent three years at Sillery and Lorette; then became a professor in the college at Quebec, where he spent the rest of his life. In August, 169S, he became superior of the Canadian missions, in which position he remained six years. He died at Quebec, Aug. 10, 1705. Rochemonteix says of him {Jisuitcs, t. iii., p. 373): "The Jesuits appreciated the urbanity of his character, knowing, how- ever, that he was wholly incapable of maintaining their rights in case of a conflict with either religious or civil authority."
21 (p. 149). — We read on the margin of the manuscript: "The plan of the village is to be placed here." This plan, however, has not come down to us. — Martin's note on the text, Douniol's Relatiojis inidites, t. i., p. 307.
22 (p. 185). — By "family" is here meant "clan" (vol. xxix., note 6). Regarding Agoiander (oy under), see vol. liv., tiote 15.
23 (p. 255). — This chapter begins Dablon's MS. Relation of 1G73-79, part of which, with accompanying bibliographical informa- tion, will appear in vol. lix. of this series. That text is here substituted for Douniol's, as being for various reasons more satisfactor}-. The next two chapters (ii. and iii.) given in Douniol are omitted here, because they more properly belong to the £ltat presoit of 1674-75, in which they will appear (vol. lix.) — but taken from the text of the above-named MS. In Chap. i. as here presented, letters or words deleted by Dablon are printed in italics ; his emendations, in roman within brackets.
24 (p. 261). — The Douniol text states that part of the reports writ- ten by the missionaries were lost in the fire. Apparently, only those of Andre and Allouez escaped destruction.
25 (p. 265). — This chapter is written by Allouez.
26 (p. 267). — This allusion to "little Lake St. Francois," and its distance from St. Frangois Xavier, would seem to identify it as Little Lake Butte des Morts, the expansion of the Fox River, Ij-ing in the towmship of Menasha, at the north end of Lake Winnebago. The U. S. government survey' gives the distance from De Pere to Winnebago Rapids as 30 miles. Cf. Lawson's claim, vol. Iv.. tiote 10.
27 (p. 273). — Folle-Avoine: name of the Menominee River, and of the tribe dwelling on its banks (vol. xliv., tiotc 21 ; vol. liv., ttotc 14). See Hoffman's admirable monograph upon this tribe, in U. S. Bur. Et/inol. Rep., 1892-93, pp. 11-338.
298 LES RELA TIONS DES jASUITES
28 (p. 275). — Reference is here made, probably, to the Peshtigo and Oconto rivers.
29 (p. 283). — Ouassatinoun was mentioned in Andrd's report for the preceding year (vol. Ivii., p. 295), as a place where the Potta- watomie band whom he had instructed at Suamico (vol. Ivii., note 13) were to assemble later, apparently in the summer or early autumn months. Andre evidently spent with them the autumn of 1673. The place cannot well be identified, although the etymology of its name leads to the inference that it was a localitj' abounding in the aspen or poplar {asati, aspen). We may add here that Chouskouabika, mentioned in the above-cited note, is by Verwyst identified {M/ss. Labors, p. 234) with the present town of Pensaukee.
30 (p. 289). — Ca/>e Illinois: the long, narrow peninsula which lies between Green Bay and Lake Michigan ; called Longue Pointe on D'Anville's map of 1754. It is included within the Wisconsin counties of Kewaunee and Door. Cf. vol. Ivi., note c;.
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